Chris Howlett

Are You Ruderless?

“True happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” – Helen Keller

A rudder is a small, flat component attached to the stern (rear) of a boat or ship. The rudder is a small but vital piece of equipment. Without it, the captain has very little or no control over the direction of travel. In his book, The Path to Purpose: Helping Our Children Find Their Calling in Life, William Damon notes that about 25% of young people aged 12 to 22 are “ruderless.” They have little or no direction in life and are at serious risk of never fulfilling their potential. They’re adrift.

Another 25% have goals but have taken few if any steps toward achieving them. Approximately 31% have actively tried several pursuits without knowing why they’re doing so or whether they’ll continue to pursue these interests in the future. Only 20% have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish in life, why, and have realistic plans.

The good news is that young and older people have a purpose and a calling and they can find it by seeking the God who seeks them. The psalmist wrote, “The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever” (Psalm 138:8 ESV). The world promises great things, but the way of the world fails to deliver. Jesus Christ offers the hope for which we’re looking. As we learn and live God’s purpose and calling, we can discover the deep meaning and fulfillment in life only God can give.

A Clean Slate

“Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving of life.” – George Macdonald

What’s your biggest regret in life? Students from Strayer University set up a chalkboard on a sidewalk near Petrosino Square in New York City. They wrote on the top of the board, “Write Your Biggest Regret.”

The chalkboard was filled to overflowing with written regrets:

Burning bridges

Not being a good husband 

Should have spend more time with family

Not saying “I love you”

Not being a better friend

Then, the students offered the bystanders an eraser and wrote “Clean Slate” at the top of the chalkboard. One young woman, erasing her regret, in tears said, “I feel hopeful. It means that there are possibilities.”

People we meet every day, including ourselves, carry a weight of regrets we normally hide below the surface. They, and we, need to know that freedom is found in Christ. During this season of Lent, may we experience the forgiveness that Jesus Christ provides for us through his cross.

How Long Is Your Timeline?

“You may delay, but time will not.” – Benjamin Franklin

Danny Hillis is a computer engineer and inventor who designed a 10,000-year clock. He explains why: “I want to build a clock that ticks once a year. The century hand advances once every 100 years, and the cuckoo comes out on the millennium. I want the cuckoo to come out every millennium for the next 10,000 years.”

Danny hopes the clock will inspire us to take more responsibility for the future. He wants us to reflect on the question, “Are we being good ancestors?” He’s hoping we’ll start projects that outlast our lifetime.

This is a great project, but I’m wondering if his timeframe is too short? The Bible says that God has put “eternity into human hearts.” We’re designed to live with an eternal perspective. How will we spend eternity? How will our lives impact eternity for others? Will anyone experience eternal life because of my attitudes and actions? What am I doing with my life that will leave a positive eternal impact?

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection makes the ultimate eternal difference in the lives of those who put their trust in him. I hope you choose to trust him and help others experience a life-changing, eternity-altering relationship with Jesus.

Searching

“For we were the purpose of his embodiment, and for our salvation he so loved human beings as to come to be and appear in a human body.” – Athanasius of Alexandria

The 12^th century Buddhist poet, Saigyo Hoshi, wrote the following poem following a visit to a Shinto Grand Temple:

        God’s here?
        Who can know?
        Not I.
        Yet I sigh
        and tears flow
        tear on tear.

The world longs to experience ultimate reality. People want to believe in and experience a being and power greater than themselves. All human religion represents this longing, the human search for God.

The Christian faith is radically different. We believe God is in search for humans, that he sent his only Son, Jesus, to become human, so we could know him and know what it means to be truly human. The message of Christmas is one of the most needed messages in the world today. We’re not alone. Our lives have meaning. There is a purpose driving our existence. There is One who loves us and has reached out that we might know and love him.

This Christmas, my prayer is that you would know Jesus and live in such a way that your words and actions help others experience God’s presence and grace.

Rescued to Rescue

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” Colossians 1:13 (NIV)

Katharina Groene, solo hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, was on a death march. She’d hiked 2,500 miles, beginning at the Mexican border, now, in Washington State, she had only 150 miles to go. The problem she faced was snow storms with no snowshoes. Nancy Abell met her about a month earlier on the trail and Nancy urged her to take a break, get off the trail, and procure the necessary equipment. Katharina kept marching forward in pursuit of her goal.

Back home, Nancy couldn’t stop thinking about the lone hiker in the mountains. When forecasters predicted two feet of snow, she called the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, explaining that Groene might be in trouble.

Katharina was in trouble. She grew dehydrated and disoriented, suffered from frostbite, and kept falling and struggling to get back up. Hypothermia set in. Surrounded by evergreens that were sinking under the weight of snow, she screamed for help. There was no one to hear her.

Officers launched a search and rescue mission and soon found her. They said she likely would have died within twenty-four hours had they not found her. 

Groene’s experience is a metaphor for all of humanity. We’ve been on a death march, going our own way, doing our own thing. We’ve ignored the goodness of God’s loving leadership. Instead of leaving us to our own devices, God launched a rescue mission. That’s what we celebrate at Christmas. God, himself, has come looking for us.

Now, that we’ve been rescued, we get to join God on his mission, searching for those hopelessly lost in great need. They’re all around us. How can we, as a family of missionary servants, join God in rescuing people, offering a life-saving relationship with his Son, Jesus? This is our mission, if we choose to accept it.

An Alternative Approach to Advent

“The depravity of [humankind] is at once the most empirically verifiable reality but at the same time the most intellectually resisted fact.” – Malcolm Muggeridge

The themes of the four Sundays of Advent in the medieval church were death, judgment, heaven, and hell. The last Sunday before Christmas Eve, worshipers focused on hell. Bring a friend!

What a strange divergence from today’s hope, peace, joy, and love! Fleming Rutledge, in her new book, Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ, points to the logic behind the sombre themes. She writes, “The idea was–and is–to show how the light of the birth of Christ appeared against a backdrop of darkness, depravity, and despair.”

We’d like to believe the world is progressing right along, and in many ways it is. Desperate poverty is at an all-time low in the history of humanity. There've been tremendous advances in medicine. But, in other, more ominous ways, that may have far-reaching and progress-reversing implications, our society, particularly Western Culture, is on a downward spiral. The current political climate with the relentless demonization of the other serves as an example. The violence in the streets of many cities around the U.S. and Europe doesn’t bode well for our overall direction. Whatever happened to a good old-fashioned protest? Now, we’re burning cars, destroying property, and threatening our opponents with physical harm. All the while, a new and virulent form of political correctness is snuffing out free speech, the hallmark of a liberated people.

Against the backdrop of this darkness, we look to the coming of the light. Advent is a season of anticipation, of hopeful expectation, that the current reality can, and is, being undermined by Jesus Christ and his followers. It’s a call to action, that we would follow the way of Jesus and learn to love others, even those with whom we disagree, perhaps especially them.

Run Away!

“It is far better to avoid sin in the first place than to struggle to overcome its consequences.” – Tony Evans

Imagine an animal you fear, perhaps a rattlesnake or a large spider. What if you were on safari and you faced an angry rhinoceros?! What would you do if you suddenly saw such an animal? Run away, of course! You wouldn’t sit there and analyze the situation. You wouldn’t tweet about it or text a friend. You’d get away to safety as quickly as possible.

As a follower of Jesus that’s how you should feel about temptations to sin. When faced with a compromising situation, a set of circumstances that invite you to violate God’s perfect law of love, you'll want to flee! You will want to flee from sin and flee to Christ. He loves you and is offering this incredible new life in the new world he’s building. When you think about what your getting, the positive blessings of life with Christ, not just what you’re denying yourself, sin looks much less attractive and more and more scary!

King David did the opposite. Faced with the tempting situation involving Bathsheba, a beautiful woman, he ran toward the temptation. That decision led to a world of hurt. 

Joseph, on the other hand, when tempted by another beautiful woman, Potiphar's wife, ran away, avoiding the sin. He struggled with another kind of consequence entirely, being falsely accused, but ultimately God's blessing carried the day. It's always best to flee temptation.

What scary monster of temptation is facing you down, today? Remember, God is with you and always provides a way out so that the temptation can be overcome (1 Cor. 10:13).

 

What's On the Inside?

“A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” – Duke Ellington

Imagine you’re holding a cup of coffee when someone bumps into you, causing you to spill some. I realize for some of you losing any of your morning coffee is a triggering, painful prospect, but bear with me. If this happened, you’d spill coffee. You wouldn’t spill tea, grape juice, or cola. Whatever is inside your cup is what will spill if your cup is bumped or shaken.

Every one of us is a vessel. Looking from the outside, it’s difficult to know what we “contain.” But when life bumps up against us or shakes ups up, whatever is inside will come outside.

What’s in your cup? Is it love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? Is it anger, bitterness, impatience, harshness, or a lack of discipline?

Life can be challenging. Prepare for it. When difficulties come its a great time to let love spill out on those around us so they can see Christ and learn to trust him in both the good and bad times.

Climbing the Mount of Transformation

“Spiritual formation is a process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others.” — M. Robert Mulholland

Climbing Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, is a daunting and challenging task. Climbers face the dangers of sub-zero temperatures, high winds, and a low oxygen environment. The latter is the most life-threatening. Altitude sickness leads to fluid in the lungs and a swelling brain. Many who suffer altitude sickness on Everest die.

Even the world’s most experienced climbers need Sherpas to assist them to reach the summit and return safely. Sherpas are a unique people who, for generations, have inhabited the Khumbu Valley at the base of Mt. Everest. They developed the capacity for surviving at altitude and capabilities for mountain climbing. Sherpas are gifted climbers who assist others to attain their goal of summiting the highest mountain in the world.

On our journey of discipleship, we need spiritual “Sherpas,” those who have developed the capacity and capabilities of spiritual discipline and discernment and actively model their lives after Christ. It can be a daunting journey up the Mount of Transformation, because everything in the world teaches us to live for self and place ego needs ahead of all others. The process of allowing Jesus to reign in every area takes time, energy, and the investment of others ahead of us on the journey.

As we develop the capacity to love God and others and the capabilities of spiritual discipline and discernment, we invest in those who are behind us, growing a family of missionary servants who learn to reflect the image of Christ for others. No one accomplishes this on their own. We need spiritual “Sherpas” to assist us as we grow and develop our desire and ability to bless others.

Symphony for a Broken Orchestra

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe

Hundreds of broken instruments sat in storage in the Philadelphia public schools. Due to tight budgets, the school district couldn’t afford repairs. Broken trumpets, worn-out violins, cellos in multiple pieces, all silently set aside, awaiting rehabilitation. Then a music educator at Temple University, Robert Blackson, received a spark of inspiration. How about a symphony for a broken orchestra!?

On a Sunday evening last December, 400 musicians, students, amateurs, and professionals, gathered to perform a symphony composed especially for them. Instruments that couldn’t be played as designed were repurposed, a trumpet turned into a percussion instrument, a new sound out of a violin with no strings, each one contributing, in its own way to a harmony that resulted in a forty-minute performance to raise funds to sustain the music program in the schools. (Check out the NYT story here).

The church is like a symphony of broken instruments. Each one of us struggles with our own flaws and fears. Yet, at the direction of the Divine Director, we add our own voices to the joyful song of redemption and hope. “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Cor. 4:7 NIV).