HEELCATCHER

I just returned from a trip back to my hometown (Green Cove Springs, FL) to see my parents.

They are getting older…moving slower. Life is changing.

While there, I was able to explore my hometown for the first time in many years.

It too has changed. Some parts of it are hard for me to recognize…or to remember.

As a kid, Green Cove was a small rural town. It had a Pete’s Hamburgers and a KFC. Pizza King was the only place to get a pizza. Winn Dixie was the only grocery store. In the middle of the city was the towering Bank of Green Cove Springs. Towering because it was two stories high, a rarity in the town. My mom worked there and so I can still picture its large lobby with the rows of tellers with the little bars over the counter. The loan department sat in the middle with its desks and office workers. In a second floor room above the lobby was the office of the bank’s president, J.P. Hall, who seemingly sat at the darkened window overseeing the whole bevy of financial activity below.

I remember the first time that a McDonalds opened in town. It was like heaven had visited earth in my kid’s sized mind. On Saturdays, I used to ride my bike from our home on County Road 16-A all the way to the bank (where I would grab a few dollars from my mom) and then finish my journey at McDonalds with a cheeseburger (specially ordered with ketchup only which always took a lot longer but usually gifted a much fresher burger), a small order of fries, and a vanilla milkshake.

A feast for a king…or at least for a hungry elementary schooler.

Across the street sat Orange Avenue Baptist Church where I started going to church in the sixth grade. The golden arches on one side of the street and the wooden cross on the other. It seemed like the perfect combination to me at the time. Youth group followed by soft serve ice cream cones. What could be better?

Green Cove sits right on the St. Johns River, a beautiful, expansive river that flows north toward Jacksonville. I don’t remember ever being particularly drawn to the river. I didn’t really like the water too much. Most of my memories of the river are sitting on a pier in the middle of the night and watching my dad throw a shrimping net into the water to catch the shrimp as they were “running.” Picking up shrimp on the pier without getting stabbed by their sharp pointy heads was the only thing I was worried about then.

Johns Manville picnics. Family Frolics in Spring Park. Playing Little League baseball games. Watching Clay High Blue Devil basketball games. Going to the Christmas parades.

All those memories are there, filed away in my mind.

Green Cove was nothing special. Just a small town with a small community feel. Most people talked about leaving Green Cove for bigger cities and greener pastures.

But as I walked through Spring Park and along the River this past weekend, I realized how beautiful the city really is. Apparently a lot of money is moving into the area, restoring some of the waterfront properties and making the city a desirable destination. There are even expensive riverboat cruises that have a stop in Green Cove for a tour of its historical buildings, “healing mineral springs,”  and its charming and quaint “small town feel.”

It almost made me want to book a cruise! To visit my own hometown!

I did think about buying a house in the area and wondering if I ever might retire back home someday.

Back home.

I am a sucker for nostalgia, I guess.

Deep down there is a strange sense of longing, ache, joy, and sorrow as I think of home.

Time passes so quickly.

I miss simpler days.

I am becoming one of those older people who talks about “the good ol’ days.”

It seems to come with the territory of growing older…seeing life change…watching time fly by…feeling the lessening of days.

Sometimes I want to stop a moment…bottle it up…and never let it go.

But time affords no such opportunity.

It only moves in one direction…and its pace keeps marching forward…one minute at a time…one day at a time…one year at a time.

I hate seeing my parents grow older and battling more aches and pains.

I hate visiting the grave of my sister and realizing that she has now been gone for 26 years.

I hate the reality of death and the relentlessness of time.

I want time to stop, for cancer to be no more, for sin to be gone, for death to be defeated, for peace to reign.

I am longing for home.

But it is not behind me but before me.

I don’t need to fear the future but embrace it. Because time is moving forward toward a climax, toward the end of the story, toward the fulfillment of my deepest longings.

C.S. Lewis once said:

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probably explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.

When I walk along the roads of my hometown and feel the ache of the past and the longing for home, I am actually feeling the ache and longing for something beyond this life. It is the echo of Eden. It is the sense of eternity in my heart. It is the hope of the kingdom.

It is the still small voice of my Savior.

Reminding me of Heaven.

Encouraging me to rest in Him.

Holding my hand.

Comforting my heart.

Calling me home.

How do you deal with fear and anxiety?

It is certainly a relevant question since all of us deal with fear and anxiety in some form or another, whether we recognize it or not.

And the pandemic has only increased that reality.

A recent article in Scientific American noted: “COVID has posed a threat to body–and mind–for all people on the planet.”

There has been a dramatic rise in anxiety and depression, not only in America but around the entire globe, since the start of the COVID pandemic.

This rise has particularly impacted younger people whose lives have been perhaps the most disrupted and who are also perhaps more connected to the constant media attention (almost always negative) given to COVID.

Even though the mental health side of the pandemic is often ignored, it is not surprising.

The pandemic has reminded us all of our vulnerability, fragility, and mortality.

We are weak.

We are mortal.

We are not in control of the universe…and something as small as a microscopic virus can quickly spread around the world, infect our bodies, and make us all vulnerable to sickness and possibly death.

This is the reality of the human condition.

We can’t escape it…no matter how many VR headsets we may buy.

The Bible identifies fear as the first emotion that humanity felt after sinning against God and being separated from Him.

And “do not fear” is the most frequently given command in Scripture…indicating that it is a command that we all need to hear.

So how do we live a life free from fear?

Well, to be frank, we can’t live totally free from fear. And if we did, then we probably wouldn’t live very long before we did something stupid that killed us.

Fear, in some ways, is good.

We need to know that we are vulnerable, fragile, and mortal.

It keeps us alive!

It is the fear-free antelope that is the dead antelope.

The “flight or fight” response is built into the core of our brains as a safety mechanism. And for that, we should be thankful.

What the Bible wants to deliver us from is the “spirit of fear.”

For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

The “spirit of fear” is what I would call persistent anxiety or panic attacks or an over-activated adrenal response that puts a person in a perpetual state of feeling “flight or fight” even in the normal course of life.

And this spirit of fear does several things to us. It paralyzes us, isolates us, and makes us think irrationally about the threats around us. In other words, it does the very opposite of having a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind.

It kills our power, our confidence, our sense of security inside ourselves.

It kills our love, our relationships, our sense of connectedness with others.

It kills our thinking, our discernment, our sense of sanity in this world.

And, in the context of 2 Timothy 1, it also kills our purpose and our ability to live the life that we were created to live.

Paul gives this verse to his young protege, Timothy, who appears to be prone to anxiety to the point that it affected his stomach and his ability to use his gifts in ministry.

Fear (if Timothy let it) could keep him from fulfilling his calling.

I can identify with Timothy.

I was a pretty “nervy kid” growing up. I put more pressure on myself that I needed to and often found myself with tension headaches and stomach problems, even as young as eight, nine, or ten years old. I can remember taking an Excedrin pretty frequently, almost daily, when I was in junior high and high school.

I was trying to be perfect in school…and just about every other area of life…and I just couldn’t do it.

As I got older, I carried some of these same tendencies into ministry.

Later, I developed panic attacks which would paralyze me and make me want to escape in any way possible.

Some can relate…others can’t.

Personality plays a role…as well as upbringing and experience…in how we handle fear.

Some turn to alcohol or other addictions to numb any feelings of fear. Some manage to distract it through endless activities, pleasures, or pursuits. Some become angry or cynical, not realizing that behind most anger is fear.

But fear is still there.

It lingers under the surface.

It cannot be denied any more than our mortality can be denied.

So how do we deal with it?

As a lifelong recovering fear-feeler, here are some things that have helped me.

1. Trust in Jesus Christ. Okay, maybe this sounds like a cliche or a “bait-and-switch” gospel message wrapped in an article about fear. But that is not my intent. I am just stating the facts. If at the root of our fear is a sense of our separation from God, our vulnerability in a sin-cursed world, and our mortality, then the only real solution is going to come from reconciliation with God, a security in a sovereign Savior, and a hope beyond the grave. That can only be found in Jesus Christ. It is not a “magic pill” that eliminates all fear but it does give a person a foundation for dealing with fear.
2. Learn to breathe. I can remember reading a book on anxiety when I was in the midst of dealing with panic attacks. It recommended sitting down and learning to breathe. I thought it was crazy. I couldn’t even sit down…much less gain control of my thinking and breathing. But over time, I have realized the wisdom of this advice. It is a daily discipline not a quick fix. The results come slowly over time. The Hebrew word for “be still” in that famous verse, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10), means “to sink down, relax, let drop.” It pictures a big exhale. A dropping of the tension in the shoulders. A relaxing in the arms of God. This is not empty meditation…this is an intentional resting in the sovereignty of God.
3. Limit media intake. There is no question in my mind that much of the increase that we are seeing in anxiety is directly related to the increase of media consumption. We are literally addicted to our smartphones, to 24/7 news, to scrolling through social media, to trying to know everything about everything. Study after study has shown that these things, especially social media, increase our anxiety, our depression, and our anger (which is fear masking as strength). Yet we keep going back and consuming more. We say we want peace but we won’t put down our pieces of technology to experience it.
4. Start your day right. In concert with the two points above, I have found that one of the best overall strategies to reducing anxiety is to reserve the first one or two hours of your day to a media-free time of reading, praying, meditating, walking, and/or exercising. I know everyone is different and their schedules are different, but somehow we must gain control of the first moments, minutes, and hours of our day if we are going to maintain the best mindset throughout the day.
5. Take medication, if needed. Christians often wonder if taking medication is somehow contrary to “having faith in God.” Short answer. “Nope.” We are body, soul, and spirit creatures. Our bodies can play as much a part of our battle with anxiety as our soul and our spirits. Paul told Timothy to “use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent illnesses” (1 Timothy 5:23). Wine, in moderation, had medicinal effects in ancient days. Today, Paul might say something like, “Take a little medication for your frequent battles with anxiety.” Medication is not the cure-all and it certainly can be over-prescribed and over-used but if medication can help break the cycle and cut the edge off a panic attack, then take it. At the same time, take an inventory of your regular diet and your physical condition and make adjustments to a healthier lifestyle. It will be good for your body and your soul.

In the end, anxiety is a battle…and a journey. It is learning to take one day at a time, realize your limits, and trust in the goodness and sovereignty of God.

I am reminded of the first line of the Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

Peace comes in knowing what you can control and what you cannot. And if we are honest, we will realize that there is not much under our control! The entire creation, along with every creature under the sun and your neighbor down the street, are beyond your control. Your own body even functions mostly outside your control.

What you can control is where you put your hope, where you fix your focus, and on whom you put your faith.

If your faith, focus, and hope are not built on the eternal Rock, then you have every reason to fear.

But if they are, then you have every reason to rest…and to rejoice!

He is in control.

And the One who upholds the universe can certainly uphold you.

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

My wife and I just attended a timeshare presentation. You know, the kind where you are given great gifts and vacation stays for simply agreeing to listen to a 90-minute sales pitch on the incredible, undeniable value of timeshares.

It wasn’t our first one.

We have been to at least six different timeshare presentations over the course of our thirty years of marriage.

We never seek them out but somehow we are offered a trip here or there that comes with the standard sales-pitch-hitch.

In reality, I don’t mind.

Liz and I are both firmly entrenched in our “timeshare resistance.” She is actually better at saying “no” than I am…and seems to even relish it at times.

Her parents actually own a timeshare that they tried to give us at one point. She even said “no” to them! If the woman refused to take a “free gift” of a timeshare (which is really not a free gift because of the inescapable, in perpetuity, $2000 a year “maintenance fee”) then you can be sure that no salesperson is going to sway her with a timeshare purchase.

She’s tough.

And I am just plain cheap.

So timeshares are just not going to happen.

So with an offer of four days and three nights at a resort in Orlando if we listened to the standard 90-minute presentation, we said “yes”…before we inevitably said “no.”

Since we were not “newbies” to the whole process, I went in to this sales presentation with my antennae up. I wanted to analyze the way that they do things…the way that they soften people up before making the sale…the way that they bait the hook before making their catch.

(OK. I know some people like timeshares and are happy with their purchase so I am sorry for the baiting analogies. But even for those who are truly interested and want to buy a timeshare from the start, there is a similar process that is interesting to watch.)

We arrived at our appointment at 9:45am.

We were escorted graciously to a fourth floor room with large kiosks and friendly people milling around.

At the kiosk, we were asked general questions about ourselves…our marital status, our income, our dream vacation destinations, and our general vacation values and priorities. While we were looking at all the wonderful places around the world where we could go, our sales rep came over and introduced herself.

She was young, vibrant, nice, attractive, and personable.

She immediately sought to allay our fears by saying that the presentation would be low-pressure and time efficient with no strong push to have us buy anything that day. She then  offered us some snacks, coffee, and soft drinks from the hospitality center…which I gladly availed myself of.

I’m like a kid at snack time when it comes to free coffee, pastries, and cookies. Liz, on the other hand, took a small bottle of water. They probably already targeted me as the “weak one.”

“Easily influenced by sugar.” Check.

Next, we were directed to the “Hawaii Room” for a short multimedia presentation and an explanation of the boundless benefits of timeshares. While waiting for all the other couples to meander in, our sales rep befriended us with lots of questions about our lives, our marriage, our family, and our past vacations.

I admit. She was super friendly and it really did seem like we connected on some “shared experiences.” We got to know about her life, her family, her faith…and even her fear of heights. Somehow the conversation even got around to joking about saving money and how I tended to like coupons and free deals (which was why I was in the presentation to begin with).

When everyone was finally in the room, the big-kahuna-sales-guy welcomed us all and started his presentation with a two-minute video of all the wonderful destinations around the world where we could go…along with smiling people enjoying every minute of the breath-taking views, the golf, the swimming, the adventures, and the family time.

It was a large scoop of “Kodak moments” with a cherry on top.

Better than my free coffee, cookie, and pastry in a wrapper.

After the video, the sales guy again reassured us that his presentation would be short and sweet (he said about 30 minutes) and that they wouldn’t pressure us to do anything. He even jokingly did a role play of how couples rehearse their “just say no” script before arriving.

He was actually pretty accurate.

As I listened to his 42 minute presentation (I watched the clock), I mentally checked some of the sales strategies that they use.

1. The Be-Like-Me Strategy. Our sales guy was the classic young, Florida-tanned, white-smiled world traveler. He told his story of being a dolphin trainer and a cruise ship entertainer in his previous occupations, showed pictures of his beautiful wife and children, and talked about his travels to all four corners of the world. It was the kind of life that you would envy and would want to emulate.
2. The You-Deserve-This Strategy. The assumption was made that we all deserve more vacation time. Europeans take the whole summer off and Americans only take a week here or there. We work too much. We deserve more play.
3. The This-Is-Where-Life-Really-Is Strategy. Everything centered around travel as the secret to happiness. The real problem of life is that we don’t visit enough destinations…we don’t have enough “dream vacations.” Thus, we are trapped in the daily drudgery of stationery existence.
4. The Family-Making-Memories Strategy. Real family time is centered on making memories and these only happen when you are on vacation. Happy families with well-adjusted, successful kids are always found in vacation photos. The sales guy even bore his soul, sharing how hard it was to know his dad because he worked all the time…but then a Disney vacation with his dad changed the whole trajectory of their family. He confessed that, to this day, he still tears up every time he sees Mickey and Goofy at Disney.
5. The We-Are-Letting-You-in-on-a-Deal-That-You-Don’t-Want-to-Miss Strategy. We were being invited into an exclusive club, a happy family of vacationers who made the smartest decision of their lives and entered into a wonderful world that few ever experience. It was the opportunity of a lifetime that may never come our way again…and which we may forever regret if we pass it up.

The sales guy was good…and funny. And in the end, you found yourself wanting to know more. No numbers were thrown out just yet so it all sounded like a great deal that would lock in low vacation prices for the next thirty years of your life.

And, best of all, it would give you a chance to have that dream vacation that you always wanted…and deserved!

It was time to go to the cubicle of our sales rep for our “customized offer.”

But first we had the opportunity to grab more coffee and cookies. Woohoo!

With our sales rep (and with my cookie and coffee), we were given another chance to talk about our dream vacation and to contemplate how wonderful it would be to take great vacations every year…in accommodations that would rival the best of the best.

No Motel 6 leaving-the-light-on-for-you-experiences ever again.

But we made it pretty clear from the beginning that we appreciated all that they said (and all the free goodies) but that we were simply not interested.

She said she understood but wanted to show us the numbers anyway.

After computing a hypothetical number of how much we could feasily spend on seven vacation nights in a hotel per year for the next twenty years of our lives, she presented us with a number of $30,000.

If she could give us an offer that wasn’t more than $30,000 total, would we take it?

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Because we won’t spend that much?”

“Are you not taking vacations?”

“No. We just find other ways to save money.”

“But this is the best deal you can make!”

“No, it really isn’t. But thanks anyway.”

She continued massaging the numbers and making other offers.

The math was shady. She took the $30,000 hypothetical number and somehow made that equivalent to paying close to $30,000 for a timeshare plus a yearly maintenance fee of $2000…for the rest of your life! But we didn’t call her on it because we wanted to be nice and we were ready to leave.

Then she said that she was going to talk to her sales manager to see if they could come up with better deals that might appeal to us.

We were nearing two hours into the presentation by now. But we waited patiently as another sales rep presented us with more “opportunities.”

As he talked, I noticed on our sales rep’s desk a sheet that had her hand-written notes. I don’t think it was supposed to be exposed but it was. On it was written down all the places that we had vacationed along with notes about our family, things that we said, and even the words “Husband tends to be cheap.”

Ouch.

I realized at that point that the friendly banter was all just part of the sales strategy.

The sales manager finally gave up after hearing us say “no” four or five more times.

At this point, we were ready to go since we were well past the two hour mark of our 90-minute presentation.

“Just stay for another minute so that you can give a final evaluation to my supervisor.”

We waited for a few more minutes until another person came to “close us out.” Instead, he made us one final offer. Pay $1700 now and we will give you a vacation to one of our prime locations and give you a full year to freeze the timeshare offer.

“No, thanks.”

The man was obviously disppointed and said that he would lead us back to the elevators. As we walked out, we passed our sales rep who was already scrolling through her phone and seemed disappointed as well. We said thank you to her but she didn’t even lift her head to acknowledge us.

I guess all the friendly vibes were gone.

On the way back to our vacation accommodations, Liz and I relived all our other sales presentations and compared notes on our most recent experience. We noticed similar strategies which I listed above.

As I thought about the whole experience more, it hit me how often gospel presentations run along similar tracks.

We use young, vibrant, attractive personalities. We market with free offers and slick multimedia. We only show the “Kodak moments” of faith and family. We appeal to people’s desires to have “their best life now.” We “sell” all the benefits of believing in Jesus. And we even give out free cookies and coffee!

I wondered if the world sees the gospel like a timeshare presentation.

Just another “deal” for those who need something more in their life, offered by sun-tanned, superficial sales people who are friendly and smiling as long as you are interested and have an open pocket book.

Lord, help us.

The gospel is not a sales pitch. It is the announcement of what Jesus Christ has done in time-space history.

He died for our sins on the cross.

He rose again to defeat death.

He accomplished what we were powerless to accomplish.

He offers freely what we desperately need.

Forgiveness.

Redemption.

Regeneration.

Reconciliation.

Relationship with our Creator…the One who made us, designed us, knows us, loves us.

Offered by grace.

Received through faith.

Yes, there are benefits to the gospel but they are all encompassed within fellowship with God through Jesus Christ.

It is like a marriage.

It is a violation of the heart of relationship to “sell” someone on the benefits of marriage. The benefits are the result of the relationship not the reason for it.

The gospel is not an offer for a happier, healthier, wealthier life. It is an invitation into a life of following Christ, coming to Him, taking His yoke upon you, trusting in Him, resting in Him…and suffering with Him, being conformed to His image.

It is not “your best life now” but “your crucified life now,” knowing that whatever struggles, pain, and suffering you encounter in this life are working toward an eternal weight of glory.

It is a call to die to yourself to find true life in Christ.

And as followers of Christ, we don’t market, package, sell, or rope people into the gospel.

We simply bear witness to what Christ has done.

We don’t save anyone.

Only the Spirit can open blind eyes, soften hard hearts, and resurrect dead spirits.

We sow and water.

Only God sprouts life.

This is the real good news in a sin-broken world.

Better than a timeshare.

Better than a dream vacation.

Better than a trip to Disney.

We are invited into the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of heaven coming to earth.

Where there is no more disease, disaster, pain, or tears.

No more sin.

No more death.

An eternal feast.

And I’m pretty sure there will be coffee and cookies for dessert.

———————————————–

You make known to me the path of life;
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)