Author Archives: Bill Dalgetty

Where Do You Look for Meaning and Purpose?

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When Mary Magdalene and the other women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body after his crucifixion they encountered two men described by Luke as angels who asked, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5)

To their astonishment, these men told them that Jesus was alive!  He was not dead, though he had been put to death on the cross.  How incredulous the whole scene must have appeared to them.  Two days earlier, they saw him die and taken down from the cross.  They saw his dead body embraced by his mother as she wept.  They saw his body placed in the tomb.   How could he be alive?

Our God is the author and creator of life.  He is not confined by the boundaries of our perceptions. 

How often do we look for the living among the dead?  How often do we search for Jesus where he is not present?   How often do we look for real meaning, purpose or happiness in life where they are not to be found – in that next job, promotion or the ever-changing notion of success; in a particular friend, group of friends or organization; in a sports team, sports hero or celebrity entertainer; in that new house, boat or car; in breaking 80 in golf, achieving a perfect 300 game in bowling or completing a full marathon in record time; in food, alcohol, drugs or other unique experience?

I know a friend who was looking for meaning and purpose in life and tried all kinds of things, even traveling to the Himalayas in India, searching for the “Living Master.”  He did not find him.  Only later, after attending a weekend retreat in his hometown conducted by a Christian outreach to the business community, Christians in Commerce, did he find the true living master, Jesus, the Messiah.  This friend found that Jesus had been waiting for him all along.  “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20)

Jesus became alive and present to my friend, providing the meaning and purpose he had long sought.  Ever since, he has been operating a construction business, bringing God’s presence to his employees, customers and community in how he relates to others, does business with integrity and seeks excellence in all that he does.

Where do you look for Jesus – among the living or the dead?  He is present to you this very moment. 

Opportunists for God

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Do we look for opportunities to build God’s kingdom in the daily moments of our lives?  In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says, “Be very careful, then, how you live – making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Eph. 5:15-16)  He goes on to say that we need to understand what the Lord’s will is in every situation.

Surely our day, with beheadings in the Middle East, the disregard for human life in the sale of aborted baby body parts, and the random shootings in schools, theaters and churches, is no less evil than what Paul saw in his day.  Nor is our need to seize opportunities to serve God and build his kingdom any less. 

The key, Paul says, is to be wise and understand God’s will.  This requires a mindset always to be asking what his will in every situation is, particularly with the people in our lives — family, work colleagues, friends and strangers.

These opportunities are often unexpected.  Once I was at lunch with a work colleague who started to share how he was estranged from his wife.  He was feeling bad for some things he had done and was angry over her response.  I just listened as he uncharacteristically shared his emotion over the crisis in their relationship.  Though we were in a public restaurant with other patrons close by, I reached across the table, took hold of his arm and prayed that God would give him the courage and grace to reach out to his wife, and that they would both open their hearts to forgiveness and reconciliation.

While I never learned the details, they did subsequently reconcile.  In reflecting on the moment, I believe God’s grace prompted me to say the prayer and use it to soften hearts and bring an end to this estrangement.

When someone expresses a need or lets us know that they are hurting, alarm bells should go off alerting us to an opportunity to be and bring God’s presence into the situation.  As Paul suggests, our first reaction should be to understand God’s will. “What do you want me to do and say, Lord?”

Jesus encouraged us to “let your light shine before men.” (Mt. 5:16)  He seized countless opportunities to heal a cripple, give sight to the blind, expel a demon, open the ears of the deaf and even raise the dead to demonstrate that the kingdom of God was at hand.

The Book of Acts reports that Peter and John did not pass by a crippled beggar as they entered the temple, but similarly seized the opportunity to demonstrate that the kingdom of God was at hand by commanding the beggar to stand and walk.

Are we recognizing the opportunities God places before us each day to be and bring his presence to the people and circumstances of our lives?

Overcoming Workplace Violence with Forgiveness in Christ

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Last week Vester Flanagan killed TV reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward in Roanoke, Virginia, because he was angry with their employer, TV station WDBJ, for having previously fired him. He was fired because he could not control his anger against other employees involving alleged racial slurs. His allegations appeared to be more imagined than real when his discrimination lawsuit was dismissed by a Virginia state court.

Anger is one of Satan’s most favorite tools in stirring up conflict in ourselves and others. Pride is the source of most anger because we become angry when our ego is offended or when we think we are being disrespected and treated unjustly.

The antidote for anger is forgiveness of the offending party, which may be difficult for us without God’s grace available to us through Jesus Christ.

Jesus had a lot to say about forgiveness. It was one of the petitions he gave us in the Lord’s Prayer, and the only one he went on to explain that if we can’t forgive others of their sins against us, God will not forgive our sins. (Mt. 6:14-15) When Peter asked how many times he should forgive a brother who sins against him and suggested seven times, Jesus responded, “seventy times seven.” (Mt. 18:21) And, how can we forget Jesus’ words of forgiveness from the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

In Hope for the Workplace-Christ in You, there is a story about workplace forgiveness that illustrates Jesus’ words. Bill taught high school business classes for fifteen years. He then earned a master’s degree that qualified him to move into counseling. He initiated an application for a $250,000 grant for his school district which enabled the district to hire four vocational counselors. Bill was able to both counsel students and administer the grant.

Then there was a change of administrations and Bill was moved back into the kind of teaching job he had previously.   Bill said, “My boss told me there was an emergency vacancy in another school, and because of a hiring freeze I had to take the job. It was clear to me, however, that my new boss wanted his own person in the position I was holding.”

“Needless to say, I was angry,” Bill said. “I felt the change was unjust, and found myself blaming my boss. Many told me that I should have been given his position when the change in administration took place. For nearly six months I was preoccupied with anger and resentment. It affected my attitude and performance. My ego got a hold of me. ‘You’re better than that,’ I told myself. You’re not being treated fairly.’”

At this point, Bill’s anger and resentment could have continued to grow into an angry confrontation, but he heard a teaching on forgiveness at a meeting of Christians in Commerce that said, “As a result of forgiveness, everyone is set free. The wrongdoer is released from obligation, guilt and shame. The victim is released from indignation, anger and bitterness. And the Lord releases more of himself.”

Bill said, “This really hit me; it was a turning point for me. I prayed for the strength to forgive and let go of my anger, and my prayers were answered. Almost immediately, I had a new outlook and peace of mind. The Lord gave me the grace to forgive and truly let go of my anger and frustration. My life was changed.”

“A year later I went back into counseling in the same area I had been previously. I kept the same boss for the next fifteen years and we enjoyed a relationship of mutual respect. I thank God for blessing me with a wonderful career of teaching high school and middle school students for many years, and I thank him for freeing me from a time of anger and resentment that could have distracted me from the calling he had for me.”

The difference between Bill’s story and Vester Flanagan’s is that Bill sought God’s grace to forgive and Vester did not. The workplace is full of opportunities for offense, hurt and injustice. Through God’s grace available to us in Jesus Christ and the power of his Holy Spirit, we need to be willing to forgive when we have been offended. Similarly, we need to be open to offering an apology and seeking forgiveness when we are the offending party.   Are we willing?

What Are You Doing with God’s Glory?

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Whether we recognize it or not, we all have the glory of God in us. We are gloriously made in the image of God. Our human body, with all of its parts and a mind that combines instinct and rationality, is still not fully comprehended by medical science. We are made up of millions of cells that work in unity to give us eyes to see, ears to hear, a mind to understand, along with coronary, respiratory and digestive systems to sustain us.

We are the top of the pyramid of God’s creation. The psalmist says, “you knit me together in my mother’s womb…I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:13-14) Genesis tells us that we are made “to work and take care” of the garden of creation. (Gen. 2:15) The glory of our being combines with the glory of our mission.

Yet the psalmist also reminds us, “How long O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?” (Psalm 4:2) St. Paul chastised the people of his day for exchanging the glory of God for images of mortal man and for exchanging the truth of God for a lie in how they lived. (Rom. 1:23, 25)

Do we recognize the glory of our being? Do we see the glory of working and taking care of the people and circumstances God has entrusted to us?

There have been times in my life when I have forgotten who I was and the important work God had given me. Early in my career I sought the false gods of recognition and position without regard to what God’s will was for me and my family. I didn’t recognize God’s glory in me as one of his created and I wasn’t asking him for guidance in what he wanted for me and the family he had given me.

By the grace of God, the example of my wife and the power of the Holy Spirit, God opened my eyes to see that I was wonderfully made in his image to work and take care of a piece of his creation that was all a part of something larger than myself.

It is part of God’s plan, also called natural law, that most of us become co-creators with him in bringing new life into this world, nurturing that life in the context of a family with a mother and a father, and teaching and demonstrating the truth of God’s word to the next generation.

We are also called to work and take care of our thread in the larger fabric of creation, whatever it may be, so that both civilization and God’s kingdom are moved forward on earth as it is in heaven.

Are we seeing God’s glory in our life and work? Remember, we are precious in the eyes of the Lord!

The Acts of the Apostles in Today’s World

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Can we experience the acts of the apostles in our lives today?

Some scripture commentators refer to the Acts of the Apostles as a “testimony to the work of the Holy Spirit,” or “The Gospel of the Holy Spirit.” It begins with Jesus’ instructions to the disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:5)

With the coming of the Holy Spirit, we see the apostles, who all ran at Jesus’ arrest, take on a new courage to witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus, proclaim the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven and perform miraculous works among the people just as Jesus did. The same Holy Spirit that empowered the early disciples to build God’s church in the first century is still present to all of us today as evident by the following story taken from Hope for the Workplace-Christ in You. (p. 107)

John was a county prosecutor in Minnesota, and worked with a detective sergeant named Eric, who was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. Eric was in his mid-thirties and married with two children. After a couple of months of chemotherapy, Eric lost his hair and was often too weak to come to work.

John could see that Eric was very ill, so he asked him if he could attend a Christian conference in Minneapolis in order to be prayed with for healing. John explained that the healing power of Jesus had been manifested at these conferences. Eric was open to going, but he had additional chemotherapy scheduled and was too weak to make the trip. John told him he would pray for him there.

In Acts 19:11-12, Luke reports, “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured.” At the conference John stood in for Eric, as people gathered around him to pray that Eric’s cancer would be healed. Someone handed John a handkerchief that was prayed over to take back to Eric.

Upon returning home, John met Eric one day at the courthouse and invited him into his office. “I told him that we had prayed for his healing at the conference, and someone had given me a handkerchief, which we prayed over for him. I emphasized that I firmly believed in the healing power of Jesus Christ and that God could use the handkerchief as a sign of our faith to heal Eric just as had been done in biblical times. We placed the handkerchief on his chest and prayed that the healing power of Jesus Christ would remove the cancer from him.”

“He thanked me,” John said, “and told me he believed that he would be healed and would return the handkerchief after the doctors had confirmed that he no longer had cancer.” About a month later Eric informed John that the doctors had confirmed that he was cancer free. This took place in the fall of 2001. To this day, the cancer has not returned.

Sometimes our willingness to step out and do something that may seem to be foolish reflects the kind of faith on which God wishes to act. The most important lesson from this story is that God is still performing miracles today through the power of the Holy Spirit just as he did with Peter, Paul and the other disciples of the first century church.

The Goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living

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Do we see the goodness of the Lord in our daily lives?

In Psalm 27 we read, “I am still confident of this; I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (vs. 13) Psalm 27 is a beautiful psalm, full of hope, joy and confidence, even in times of difficulty. It begins by declaring, “The Lord is my light and salvation– whom shall I fear…the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?”

Through this “light” (knowledge of God and our existence), “salvation” (God’s saving grace) and “stronghold” (God’s protection), we will “see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” This is a promise for this life, here and now. Whatever the challenge – a demanding boss, a difficult colleague, an unreasonable customer, the loss of a job, a personal illness, the suffering or loss of a loved one, God’s saving grace is available to us in the present moment.

Phillip Yancey in his book, What’s so Amazing about Grace, tells the story of a rock concert at Wembley Stadium in London in 1988, to celebrate the changes in South Africa. For some reason the promoters scheduled opera singer, Jessye Norman as the closing act to sing, Amazing Grace. For twelve hours various rock groups blasted the fans already high on booze and drugs.

Yancey reports, “Finally the time comes for her to sing. A single circle of light follows Norman, a majestic African-American woman wearing a flowing African dashiki, as she strolls on stage. No backup band, no musical instruments, just Jessye. The crowd stirs, restless. Few recognized the opera diva. A voice yells for more [rock music]. Others take up the cry. The scene is getting ugly.”

“Alone, a capella, Norman begins to sing, very slowly:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost but now am found–

Was blind, but now I see.

“A remarkable thing happens in Wembley Stadium that night. Seventy thousand raucous fans fall silent before her aria of grace. By the time Norman reaches the second verse, ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved…, the soprano has the crowd in her hands. By the time she reaches the third verse, ‘Tis grace has brought me safe this far, And grace will lead me home,’ several thousand fans are singing along.

“When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we first begun.”

Jessye Norman later confessed she had no idea what power descended on Wembly Stadium that night. Yancey said, “I think I know. The world thirsts for grace. When grace descends, the world falls silent before it.”

The goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

The Divine Power of Truth

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Do we appreciate the power of truth?

St. Paul talks about truth having divine power when he says, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.” (2 Cor. 10:3-5)

Truth, the knowledge of God, his word and work, has divine power. It demolishes lies, deception, and all manner of error. Since truth is from God, it is eternal and never fades or dies, in contrast to lies and deception which may last for a while, but are eventually discovered and proven false.

Truth on the other hand may lie dormant for a time, but is always discovered and demolishes the stronghold of lies. Examples in our world today include such questions as when life begins, and what constitutes marriage. If we discovered biological cells on another planet, the headlines would declare “Life Exists on Another Planet,” yet a human egg fertilized with a human sperm is not? Genesis and all of nature declare that marriage is between a “male and female” who become one to “be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it,” but the wisdom of this world through our highest court says it is not? Is our culture exchanging the “truth of God for a lie,” as Paul describes in Romans 1:25?

When Pilate was trying to determine who Jesus was and whether he was a king, Jesus said the reason he was born and came into the world “was to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37) Pilate, like many of our leaders today, not recognizing the embodiment of truth standing before him, asked, “What is truth?”

History testifies to the power and lasting nature of truth. The Roman Empire oppressed and persecuted Christians for almost 300 years. Yet historian Will Durant, not necessarily a friend of the Christian faith, eloquently observes:

“There is no greater drama in human record than the sight of a few Christians, scorned or oppressed by a succession of emperors, bearing all trials with fierce tenacity, multiplying quietly, building order while their enemies generated chaos, fighting the sword with the word, brutality with hope, and at last defeating the strongest state that history has known. Caesar and Christ had met in the arena, and Christ had won.” (Caesar and Christ, p. 652)

In recent memory we have seen regimes such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union seek to oppress and outlaw the truth of God, but instead the power and eternal nature of truth brought each of them crashing down.

Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching…you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” May we never lose confidence in the power and eternal nature of truth against the lies and deceptions of the world.

God Inhabits the Ordinary

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Are we experiencing God in the ordinary events of our daily lives?

After the baby Jesus was presented in the temple, Luke reports, “When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.”

How ordinary! The Son of God is born of Mary and entrusted to Joseph and her. With the exception of a few humble shepherds and the Magi, people gave them little notice.

Joseph and Mary were practicing Jews who observed the laws and traditions of Judaism. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day and consecrated to God in the Temple in Jerusalem as was required for first born males of Jewish families.

The Gospels give us few facts about Jesus’ childhood other than the incident when he was 12 and stayed behind in the temple during the family’s annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The likelihood is that Jesus’ early life was very ordinary with Jesus growing up as a young Jewish boy, experiencing all of the things any Jewish boy would have experienced with family and neighbors. They would observe family traditions and the practice of Judaism in a small village. Jesus likely learned his father’s trade of being a carpenter, and was probably a carpenter himself during his early adult years.

God inhabits the ordinary. He did this with Jesus. He inhabited the ordinary in preparation for the extraordinary. He did this with the prophets that went before Jesus. He does this with us. We cannot expect to experience God in the extraordinary if we are not experiencing him in the ordinary.

The ordinary includes the daily commute to work, taking out the trash and helping our children with homework. It includes our daily contact with co-workers, standing in line at the checkout counter and the many choices we make each day, large and small.

Jesus tells us in John 14 that if we love him, the Father and he will come and make their home in us. One of his last words to the disciples was that he will be with us always. He is in us and with us if we choose to act on his presence. As a result, instead of cursing the person who cuts us off on our way to work, we bless him. We show patience to our children in helping them with their homework. We listen to a co-worker who wants to share a problem. We forbear in reacting negatively to an inattentive retail clerk.

Ninety-nine percent of life is ordinary. If we are experiencing Jesus in the ordinary, we are experiencing the kingdom of God, which Jesus says is here and now. When a need or crisis hits we can then experience Jesus in the extraordinary as we pray with a sick friend for healing, bring reconciling words to a troubled relationship or love to a forgotten stranger – anticipating that God will act in and through us.

Serve, Then Proclaim

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How do you share about Jesus?

When Jesus sent out the seventy-two, he gave them explicit instructions how they were to stay with one host instead of many in order to build relationships and to serve their needs like healing the sick.

Only after they had established relationships and met the needs of the people, were they to proclaim that the kingdom of God was at hand. “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’” (Luke 10:17)

Apparently the actions of the disciples in going out gave the people a greater hunger for God because Mark reports that it led to “so many people coming and going…from all the towns” seeking them further, that the whole process culminated in the gathering of the five thousand where Jesus preached and multiplied the fish and loaves. (Mark 6:31, 33, 35-44)

As Christians, we are encouraged to witness and share about Jesus, and this we should surely do as God gives us the opportunity. But Jesus offers a guideline through his instructions to the seventy-two that emphasizes building relationships, loving people by serving their needs and then proclaiming the good news.

In Hope for the Workplace-Christ in You, there is the story of Diane who provides financial and insurance counseling to clients. One day when a client named Don came to seek advice about his 401K, he confided about injuring his back and struggling to find work that did not require heavy lifting. Diane mentioned that God wants to be with us in our struggles and asked if she could pray with him that God would give him guidance and find the right job.  Diane then remembered that there was a security guard company next door that might have some openings, and asked Don if he would like her to introduce him to them. She made the introductions and they did have some openings, but to apply for the job, Don needed her assistance in downloading and completing some forms.

It was now 6:30 p.m. and Don said, “You know, I have really found that Christians are nice people.” Diane asked, “Are you Christian? He said he was but that he didn’t go to church. Diane then shared about her faith and a ministry to which she belonged. She asked him to consider attending a weekend retreat the ministry was sponsoring.

In reflecting on the experience, Diane observed, “When you hear someone say, ‘I’m having a hard time,’ that is a signal from the Holy Spirit that we have an opening to bring the presence of Christ to that person. We build God’s kingdom when we listen to someone’s need and act on it.”

It is interesting that Diane was initially not trying to evangelize Don. Her first response was simply to listen to his concerns, act on them in introducing him to the security guard company and helping download and complete the application forms. Only when those needs were met and after Don made an observation about Christians did she share about her faith.

This is a formula that missionaries have been following for centuries. Build relationships, love and serve needs, share the reason for your love – Jesus.

Prayer and Fasting for a Family Vacation

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Have you ever prayed and fasted for a family vacation?

Last week our family which includes a single daughter, four married children, their spouses and thirteen grandchildren vacationed at a beach house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. That’s 24 people under one roof, including nine teenagers and four little ones five and under, besides the 11 adults.

In preparation for the week, my wife and I decided that we needed to pray for all who would be present, seeking God’s presence, blessing, peace, love and protection, which we reinforced with fasting.

The blessings were amazing! While the potential for chaos was possible, there was no fussing or bickering among teens or adults. The teens, both siblings and cousins, hung out together on the beach, jumping waves, using the paddle board, building sand castles for the little ones, sunning themselves, taking walks, cooling off in the pool, or relaxing in the hot tub, walking into town for an ice cream cone, and videoing themselves for a video trailer commemorating their week.

The married children also enjoyed hanging out with one another, catching up and sharing their lives. My wife and I just enjoyed taking it all in, engaging with adult children, spouses and grand- children alike.

Each family took responsibility for an evening meal with the teens preparing the last dinner on Friday night. Each evening meal was preceded by 24 people standing in a circle holding hands to say grace, led by the father of the family preparing the meal and one of the teens on their night.

Fathers and sons went deep sea fishing one day, while one mother organized an in-house spa day for the daughters. The men felt like the disciples when Jesus asked them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. The catch included fifty-seven mahi-mahi, two mackerel and one 47 pound tuna.

All returned safely home, with no injuries, mishaps or accidents. We were spared the presence of sharks which had attacked swimmers on Carolina beaches in prior weeks. The weather included sunny skies during the days and showers only at night.

St. Paul says, “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” We know that Jesus encouraged prayer and fasting because he gave us instructions on both in Matthew 6:5-18. Jesus encouraged us to ask and seek God’s presence and blessings. He said, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him.” (Mt. 7:11)

We asked, and God answered beyond all our expectations.

In this day when God’s institution of marriage and the family seem to be under attack, we were blessed to experience and celebrate marriage and family the way we believe the creator of all things intended them to be.

Today, we offer a prayer of thanksgiving. “I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.” (Psalmfamily-1 89:1)