Category: Complaining

8/23/2024 1 Comment

A Crime More Despicable

Meditation
1 Samuel 25:2,3--A man in Maon had a business in Carmel; he was a very rich man with 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats and was shearing his sheep in Carmel. The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name, Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.

1 Comment

6/30/2024 0 Comments

Transformation

Do you remember the Transformers film series where cars transform into robots with various combative skills? Well, that is nothing compared to what will finally happen when we who love Jesus complete our change to the image and glory that is the Lord’s. The Apostle Paul gives us a preview of what will come in his letter to the Corinthians.

0 Comments

7/11/2023 1 Comment

Grumptitude

What is grumptitude, you ask? Essentially, it is the quality or feeling of being grumpy or unthankful. Whereas people with gratitude look for things for which to be thankful, those with grumptitude prefer to live in a prickly state of dissatisfaction. Their lousy attitude has several consequences. First, who wants to spend time with them? Their negativity makes life miserable. Second, their philosophy is built upon an underlying conviction for fault-finding or gloom globbing. If the sun is shining, it is sure to rain. If it is raining, expect a flood. If it floods, count on losing everything. If everything is lost, it’s because life is stacked against them. Do you get the picture?

1 Comment

4/13/2022 1 Comment

Protecting Boundaries

Jed, Samantha, and Rob work for a nonprofit organization that helps military veterans. They mostly love what they do, but they struggle immensely with the poor manner in which their organization is run. Their leader flips from one project to the next, often pulling them to work on a new requirement with no advance notice. They feel jerked around by the tyranny of what is most urgent—a reoccurring pattern that is not well thought through. Decisions are sometimes made for them in areas where they are subject matter experts without seeking their input or advice. They feel unheard and underappreciated. They are emotionally and physically exhausted because there are no work boundaries or protected times for them to rest and relax.

1 Comment

8/28/2021 0 Comments

Withering

The Hebrew word navel, basically means wither or lose heart. It is used twenty times in the Old Testament. The word describes Moses in Exodus 18:18—warned about wearing out from trying to judge the people alone. Eleven times it refers to plants dying. Isaiah uses it to show people withering from sin (Isaiah 64:6). When you think of the condition of the world right now does it feel like it is withering? Such a thought should not be surprising for God warned us that this would happen.

0 Comments

6/10/2021 0 Comments

You Can't Move In

Bryan York enjoying his temporary lodging.

I was loading up the car with boxes of books to take to our new apartment when my cell phone rang. When I answered the phone Taylor, one of the staff for Jefferson Gables Apartments, said, “Mr. York I’m so sorry but you cannot move in tomorrow. We found an error.”
“An error, what kind of error?”
“We have to replace the entire carpet. You can’t move in for at least two weeks. But the good news is you will have new carpet.”

0 Comments

5/31/2021 0 Comments

Wilderness Lessons

If one were to find a synonym for wilderness in the Bible it would be fairly safe to substitute hardship. The Holman Christian Standard Bible uses the term wilderness 150 times.[1] The majority of references applied to Israel wandering through deserts that resulted in all but two adults over 40 dying and a whole lot of complaining and suffering. The fascinating thing is that God has a penchant for leading His people through wildernesses, to include His own Son (Matthew 4:1). Why does He do this?

0 Comments

2/14/2021 0 Comments

Competition

Competition is one of my signature strengths. I don’t like losing or being wrong. By God’s grace I am mellowing with age. So, I can somewhat identify with John when he and his buddies were bothered that someone they didn’t know was taking on demons in the power of Jesus’ name yet wasn’t part of their signature team. I’m sure he felt that that it was completely inappropriate for one who was not spending time at the feet of the Master to minister as a supposed follower. But John and his fellow disciples were misguided in their thinking.

0 Comments

1/29/2021 0 Comments

Standing on the Rock

Meditation
Exodus 17:6—“I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

0 Comments

12/19/2020 0 Comments

Unity

Imagine with me a ship called Argy-Bargy. Captain Accord is given a mission to sail the ship to an island called Habitué. He tells Lieutenant Divagate to set a course of 340 degrees but the officer is distracted and misunderstands the course as 314 degrees. When he repeats the course back to the Captain, his southern accent does not help and he is given confirmation that is 26 degrees off course. Petty Officer 3rd Class Makebate got in a fight with Petty Officer 2nd Class Invidious and, though he was the instigator, he was furious when Ensign Feckless threw him in the brig for three days. When he got out he managed to convince Petty Officer Mugwump and Seaman Apprentice Fulminate that the officers on board Argy-Bargy were corrupt and out to get them. They hatched a plan to sabotage as many officers as they could on social media by spreading malicious lies. What they didn’t realize is that Lieutenant Commander Popinjay overheard them talking and reported them to Master Chief Petty Officer Sot who just happened to be from Makebate’s home town and was a friend of the family. Sot, after a few beers to think about the whole thing, chose not to say anything to the Skipper. Instead he casually shared with the XO, Commander Garboil, that a misunderstanding had occurred among some of the junior enlisted men but that he had handled it. What do you think of the state of unity on this ship? Will it reach Habitué?

0 Comments

7/3/2020 1 Comment

Sharing Hope

Yesterday I had the privilege of leading a former Navy veteran, Wanda* to Christ. Her journey was pitted with pain, betrayal and enough hurt to stain a landfill. But what was equally troublesome to me was when she shared that she had met many Christian counselors and self-described Christians in her pursuit for help and their singular advice was to read her Bible. Certainly it is important to read God’s Word. But when one is wallowing in confusion what is needed most is not a homework assignment—one needs the clarion gospel message.

1 Comment

3/31/2020 0 Comments

Numbers

The fourth book of the Bible is Numbers which is a translation of Arithmoi, from the Septuagint. It is titled as such because the book contains two census counts, numerous statistics, tribal and priestly figures, and other numerical data. The Hebrew name is included in the first sentence of the book and means “in the desert of ”; an accurate description of the book’s content, which follows the Israelites through almost forty years of desert wandering.[1]
The story began in the second year of the Israelites escape from Egypt, as they camped in the Wilderness of Sinai around 1444 BC. It ends 38 years later “in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho” (36:13) in 1406 BC.[2]

0 Comments

2/18/2020 0 Comments

Exodus

Rabbi Irving Greenberg in his article “Why The Exodus Was So Significant” wrote, “The Exodus transformed the Jewish people and their ethic . . . Christianity and Islam adopted the Exodus at their core, almost half the world is profoundly shaped by the aftereffects of the Exodus event.”

0 Comments

3/4/2019 1 Comment

An Email to Jesus

Meditation
Luke 15:2—And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!”

Our pastor recently received an anonymous email that was highly critical of himself and his executive pastor. As an elder, I can honestly share that this kind of message serves only to discourage leaders. The person criticizing picks apart whatever he or she disagrees with, is not part of a solution and hides behind a cloak of anonymity rather than come and personally share what is misunderstood. It is too easy to be critical. It is also immature to lob rocks from the other side of the hill.

1 Comment

4/26/2018 0 Comments

Hold Your Peace

I heard an excellent message from a pastor recently about not defending ourselves when we are betrayed or attacked. His point was that no matter what we say in defense we cannot undo the damage and we may actually make things worse. If we have done what is right and are slandered, lied about, or smeared unfairly, the best course of action is to continue to live our lives righteously and trust God for the results. If close friends ask what is happening, we may share with them . . . The point is: don’t retaliate, defend, or excuse ourselves.

This is not easy. To hold our peace when warred against is like watching mosquitoes take blood and not swatting them. Why would we do that?

0 Comments

3/7/2016 0 Comments

Be Careful What You Say

Coach Lou Holtzwas quoted as saying, “Never tell your problems to anyone...20% don't care and the other 80% are glad you have them.” Holtz has a great sense of humor; let’s just hope his findings are inaccurate! Most people don’t want to spend their time listening to others complain. As I write this, I recall a person I used to avoid taking phone calls from because his pattern was to grumble at great lengths about his circumstances. By the end of the call I was irritated. This person never seemed to be happy feeling only bad things were afoot.

0 Comments

8/3/2013

Frink Wrote an Email

Meditation
1 Peter 4:9—Be hospitable to one another without complaining.

Frink* wrote an email and sent it to the CEO, CFO and HRO of a major corporation. He complained that his wife Delilah worked in a toxic environment, that her supervisors were incompetent and mean-spirited and that the section was basically a clique that considered his wife a racist. Concerned with the possibility of unfavorable press and a lawsuit, even though Frink’s wife worked four departments below his level, the CEO directed Jeff the boss of Delilah’s boss to personally call Frink and listen to whatever he had to say.

8/8/2012 0 Comments

Grumbling

Meditation
Philippians 2:14,15—Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world.

Harry is a phenomenal Command Sergeant Major. His dedication and his uncompromising zeal are inspiring. When I think of him I am reminded of Paul’s challenge to the Philippians in the passage above.

0 Comments

2/17/2011

Perversity

Have you ever tried to help someone only to be second guessed, accused of manipulating, or of having some hidden, evil agenda? I once had a leader who was quick to complain about his higher headquarters. Despite the faults he found in others, his performance was consistently weak. For his own betterment I removed him from his position. I shared with him my intentions and then explained why his behavior was detrimental to our organization.

4/3/2009

Grasshoppers

Meditation
Numbers 13:33—“We even saw the Nephilim there.” (The offspring of Anak were descended from the Nephilim.) “To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.”