Brothers

He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!

We celebrated Resurrection Sunday with our two daughters and Son-in-Law at the Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, IL. Incredibly joyful and worshipful. It is so good to be part of the body of Christ.

A few weeks ago, I was attending the installment of my brother as head of nephrology at University of Buffalo. I am so proud of my brother. He has overcome a lot. We got to hear him speak - 98% of it was over my head. Very medically techy. We then went to the President's house for an incredible steak dinner. During the awards ceremony, several people came up to me mistakingly and started talking to me like I had medical knowledge or that they had met me before. It became apparent that they mistook me for my brother. It took a few seconds, but we both came to the realization that I was not my brother. There was a physical resemblance that caused them to think I was my brother. But it would not have taken long for them to realize I was not him.

That same week, I finished a two year commitment with 13 other guys called CLC (Christian Leadership Concepts). We met every week at 6:00 AM to study the bible, fellowship, and lift each other up in prayer. I have never gotten to know a group of guys better than I have those guys. They were truly my spiritual brothers. We have gone through much together even over two years. I would not hesitate to contact any of them. We range in age from mid 20's to 81. We have various occupations. We have varying hobbies. None of us would likely join together in some kind of group. There is nothing obvious that we have in common. What we have in common is the bond of Christ - a common faith in who Christ is and what He has done for us. We are truly brothers.

Brothers in Christ are something other-wordly, supernatural. Today at the Sunday Easter Service, we were part of a broader family, a family that has an instant bond. Even though we were with our physical family, our spiritual family was so much deeper. The fact we were worshipping with both was even more meaningful. Christ is risen for you, for me and because of that, we are a family.

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The Difference Between Success and Failure is so Small

Last week I was supposed to guest teach a class at a library down in Canton.  I wrote the address as XX Market St., N Canton, OH.  Because I am a techie guy, I plugged the address into my GPS.  It became pretty apparent that there was no library at this address in North Canton.  As I am wandering aimlessly in North Canton, I call my source of all knowledge, my wife.  She tells me the address is XX Market St. N., Canton, OH.  In other words, my comma was off simply one position, but I was 6 miles from my intended target.  So I walked into the class half hour late.

This little slip-up reminds me that the difference between succeeding and failing is so small.  One wrong decision, even innocently, can have disastrous circumstances.  However, more often than not we stretch the limit, playing the fringes of ethics and morality.  I have to remind myself that if I am lying, even a small lie, it will lead to big lies later.  I have to be vigilant to prevent this from happening.  My flawed, sinful character makes slippage more likely than doing the right thing.  It is not wrong to pray to my heavenly Father and acknowledge my potential for waywardness and ask that He provide me His wisdom through His Holy Spirit.  And that is what I do regularly.  I also confess it and repent when I do go wayward.  I call it for what it is which is the difference between repentance and regret.  True repentance seeks restoration where regret is sorry for the consequences only.  I know every time I sin I am damaging a relationship.  It could be a vertical relationship with Lord and/or damaging a relationship with a friend or brother.  I need to be prepared to accept consequences always for doing the right thing. 

Going back to my simple illustration, my GPS represents the world.  The GPS directed me down the wrong path given the wrong set of inputs.  There are all sorts of justification for wrong behavior when dictated by the world.  We can justify just about anything.  It is called situational ethics.  Everyone else is doing it.  It is necessary to be successful.  Am I willing to base my decisions on a True North (biblical) set of principles?  In my example, I did not really check it out in advance - I just blindly followed the GPS instructions.  How easy it is to this in business and life.  We have to be diligent.