Steve May, Author at Steve May

Many Mentors. One Father.

Jack Elway, former football coach of Stanford University and father of Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway, was once asked how he dealt with being an expert in the same field his son had chosen as a profession.

Jack’s response was: “In your son’s life he’ll have many mentors, many coaches, many men to teach and motivate and correct him. He’ll have only one father. All you have to do is love him.”

Reading this quote (in Randall Wallace’s book, Living the Braveheart Life) reminded me of something I had heard John Elway say years earlier.

After his second Super Bowl loss — if you’re a Bronco fan, you’ll remember those first two Super Bowls qualified as embarrassing — the younger Elway was, of course, devastated. It wasn’t merely a team loss; John himself hadn’t played up to par.

That evening his father visited him. He didn’t break down his son’s performance or offer any advice. He just sat with him.

It was one of those moments in which Jack knew that his son didn’t need a coach. He needed a dad.

Fathers, there are many roles you will play in the lives of your sons and daughters. Keep in mind that your greatest role is to let them know that they are loved, always, as we are loved by our Heavenly Father.

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. (Psalm 103:13)

The Solution to Soul Fatigue

Here’s another hymn story. This one takes place in the year 1879, when a soul-fatigued pastor found himself overcome with discouragement.

Washington Gladden had been serving God for 20 years, but had yet to see much fruit in his ministry. He was also beset by personal problems and family problems. And now he was at the point of despair — frustrated and discouraged; weak and weary. He felt like a failure in ministry, and a failure in life.

I’ll give away the ending now and say that in the years to come, his life and ministry would be much different.

He would write dozens of books, hundreds of articles and editorials, and even publish a national magazine. He would become an influential voice in matters that shaped our cultural values in the early 20th century. He would also pastor a thriving church in Columbus, Ohio.

But in 1879 Washington Gladden couldn’t see what was to come. He could see only what was today. He could only see his discouragement.

That afternoon he climbed up to the top of the church bell tower to be alone and to think for a while. The thought even crossed his mind that he could jump from the ledge and make his troubles disappear.

But he didn’t jump. Instead, he poured out his heart to God, putting into words what would eventually become a hymn that has since appeared in more than 400 hymnals, and has been sung in hundreds of thousands of churches throughout the world for the last century and a half.

This is what he wrote…

O Master let me walk with thee
In lowly paths of service free.
Tell me Thy secret; help me bear
The strain of toil, the fret of care.

Reverend Gladden experienced what every pastor, every staff member, every missionary, every leader, every volunteer has experienced. He experienced what every person who desires to live a difference-making life has experienced.

I’m talking about Discouragement with a capital D. Disappointment. Frustration. Fatigue. Not the kind of fatigue where your body is worn out. The kind of fatigue where your soul is worn out. Where your will is worn out. And you’re not sure how much longer you can carry on.

Many times our fatigue is stoked by a lack of measurable success. The paradox, however, is that racking up results rarely resolves the problem. In fact, there is only one real solution to overcome soul-fatigue. It is found in the first line of Gladden’s hymn:

O Master let me walk with thee.

Results in ministry are always cause for celebration, but they’re not enough in themselves to give us the strength to face a new day. This strength can be found only in the presence of a daily walk with Christ.

As the new week begins, and you take aim at every item on your list, remember that priority one remains the same: This is a journey we are called to make with Jesus, not merely for him.

“Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

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Today’s memo was taken from Steve’s series Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs.

The Love That Will Not Let You Go

Here’s another hymn story. This one takes place in Scotland in the mid-to-late 1800s.

It’s about about George Matheson who, at the age of 20, had what appeared to be a brilliant future ahead of him. He was an outstanding theology student, preparing for what would certainly be a distinguished career in academia. He was also engaged to the woman of his dreams.

Everything was just right … except he was beginning to lose his sight. Slowly, little by little, day by day, his world became increasingly dark. How can one become a scholar with no ability to read? Braille was still in its infancy; the options were limited.

His fiancé decided that she couldn’t bear going through life with a vision-impaired husband, so she broke off the engagement, and George Matheson’s world came undone.

However, he didn’t let this setback hold him back. He decided, instead, to become a pastor, and began serving a small church.

His sister became his devoted assistant. She studied Greek, Hebrew, and Latin to help with his sermon preparation and his writing. She accompanied him throughout the day, assisting him in his pastoral responsibilities.

Over the years, George Matheson became quite successful in the ministry: he became the pastor of a large church, and he wrote several books of theology, poetry, and sacred music.

And then one day his sister told him that she had fallen in love. She had made plans to marry, and would soon be leaving to begin a new life and family with her husband.

George realized that he would be alone. For 20 years his sister had been his connection to the seeing world. She had read to him, she completed his research, she had been his scribe, as well as his partner in ministry … and now he was alone again.

On the night before her wedding, he said, “Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering.” Those close to him understood that he was reminded of the time so many years before, as he was preparing to get married, and the love of his life let him go. And now he was losing his closest friend and confidant — his dear sister.

On that night, June 6 1882, as George Matheson thought about the love he had lost years before, and as he thought about the lonely days that lie ahead, he wrote these words…

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

There are many who understand on a deep and personal level the story behind this hymn, and what George Matheson felt, because you, too, have at times felt abandoned and alone. No doubt we have all felt this way.

In a psalm written later in life, King David wrote…

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. (Psalm 139:9-10)

Your right hand will hold me fast.

To say it another way: You will not let me go.

God loves you with a love that never lets go. Even when you were at your worst, he sent his very best, his only Son, to die on the cross, so that you might live. No circumstance of life can separate you; nothing can take you from his hand.

… for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

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Today’s memo was taken from Steve’s series Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs.

The Morning-by-Morning Goodness of God

One of my favorite hymns is also one my favorite hymn stories, because it is almost a non-story.

Many hymns were written in response to a dramatic turning point in the composer’s life — a personal crisis, a lost love, the death of someone near.

But this hymn was not the result of a turning point as much it is the result of a lifelong reflection. While many hymns are born out of a dramatic experience, this hymn was simply the result of the author’s morning by morning recognition of God’s faithfulness.

The story begins in 1893, in the southern state of Kentucky. A young newspaper editor named Thomas Obadiah Chisholm surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. He was 27 at the time, and his dream became that someday he would serve God full time in the ministry.

Eventually he was able to serve as a pastor in the Methodist Church, but his appointment lasted only a year; he was forced to resign due to poor health. He then moved to New Jersey and began selling life insurance, while remaining active in his local church.

Over the years he wrote well over a thousand hymns and sacred poems, submitting them often to various periodicals for publication. A few made their way into print, though he himself never became well-known.

Later in life, at the age of 75, he wrote…

“My income has not been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier years which has followed me until now, although I must not fail to record the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God, for which I am filled with astonishing gratefulness.”

Thomas Chisholm finally retired at the age of 87. He spent his last years in a retirement home. In 1960, at the age of 94, he went home to be with the Lord.

It was a song that he wrote years earlier, in 1923, at the age of 57, for which he is known today. If you’ve been in church very long, you no doubt know it.

It was written by a man who lived, by and large, an unremarkable life — knowing neither fame nor fortune. But he did know something about the day-by-day, morning-by-morning goodness of God in every area of life.

That’s what makes this hymn great. Virtually every line of this great hymn is pulled from the Scripture. It reminds us of how the God we serve is faithful in every way — even when things don’t work out exactly as we would like, we can see his hand at work in every moment of every day.

These are the words that Thomas Obadiah Chisholm wrote…

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father!
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not:
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

And this is the chorus…

Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided —
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Thomas Obadiah Chisholm never achieved the accolades of success in this life. As a musician, you might call him a late-comer and a one-hit-wonder. But he lived a great life because he experienced, and he recognized, and he appreciated the morning-by-morning faithfulness of God in his life.

A lesson we can learn from his life: When you make it your habit to seek God’s presence every day, you begin to see evidence of his faithfulness all around you.

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Today’s memo was taken from Steve’s series Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs.

What’s the Use?

In February 2005 a Colorado county court judge ordered two teenagers to pay $900 for the distress they caused a neighbor the previous summer.

What distressing thing did they do?

They baked some cookies and adorned them paper hearts.

The teenagers, Taylor and Lindsey, had stayed home this particular Saturday night — some friends were having a party but they chose not to go since there might be drinking. Instead, they made cookies for several of their rural neighbors, dropped off the batches on their porches, accompanied by red and pink hearts and a note that said “Have a great night.”

One neighbor, however, didn’t appreciate their kindness. She filed a lawsuit complaining that the unsolicited cookies triggered an anxiety attack that sent her to the hospital the next day. Judge Doug Walker ruled that 10:30 was a little late to be ringing someone’s door bell, and ordered the girls to pay the “victim’s” medical costs.

I’m afraid this might have caused Taylor and Lindsey to think twice before they decide again to do something kind. Certainly no one could blame them. But I hope it’s not the case.

Even though good deeds sometimes bring back more trouble than we deserve, we must never be discouraged from seeking out opportunities to display random acts of kindness.

One Sabbath day Jesus healed a man who later went out of his way to inform the enemies of Christ that it was Jesus who had done this miraculous work. (John 5:15) This began a chain of events that led to…

Therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. (John 5:18 NASV)

Hardly worth the trouble to heal the man, wouldn’t you say? And yet, our all-knowing Lord healed him anyway.

Kent Keith said…

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

These sheep that we’re called to take care of—sometimes we discover they have really sharp teeth. But don’t let a few bite marks prevent you from continuing to do good every chance you get.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

Chipping Away at the Mountain

In 1960, Dashrath Manjhi was a common laborer from Gelhour Hills in Bihar, India. His community was somewhat remote, with limited access to vital services, because traveling involved going around a three hundred foot mountain that stood between the towns.

Dashrath decided that what his community most needed was a road through the mountain. Since no one else was going to do it, he decided he would.

He sold some goats to buy a hammer and chisel, and set out chipping away at the mountain each day after work.

Of course, people called his plan foolish and said the project could never be completed, but he just kept chipping away with his hammer and chisel.

1960, chipping away.

1961, chipping away.

Then 1962. 1963 … let’s fast forward a couple of decades … 1980, still chipping away.

1981, chipping.

1982… And the project is finished. The road is 30 feet wide, cut 25 feet deep into the rock.

Now, instead of having to travel 55 kilometers for access to services, the people of his village need travel only 15 kilometers. And it was accomplished by one man with a couple of hand tools.

What an example of reaching for that which is beyond you. And what an example of making the most of each day.

Can you really carve a road through a three-hundred foot impasse of a mountain with just a hammer and a chisel, all by yourself?

Yes, you can. In twenty-two years you can do it, when you reach for it every day, and you keep chipping away.

To make your life what it can be, make it your daily resolve to aim for that which is beyond you, and reach for that which is above you.

Every day.

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Running the Wrong Way

On New Years Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played California in the Rose Bowl.

Late in the second quarter, Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for California. In his excitement he became confused and began running in the wrong direction — for sixty-five yards.

He thought he was about to score. Instead, one of his teammates tackled him at their own 2 yard line.

This meant that his mistake put California 98 yards away from where they needed to be; 98 yards away from where they could have been had he had a better sense of direction.

The mistake was serious. A few plays later, Georgia Tech got the ball back and scored.

In the locker room at half time, Roy Riegels sat in the corner with his face buried in his hands, humiliated. The rest of the room remained silent. The coach didn’t make his usual half-time speech, but shortly before they were to take the field again, he said, “The starting team will begin the second half.”

The players all left the locker room, except for Riegels, alone on the bench, his head hung in shame. He said, “I can’t do it, Coach. I can’t play. I’ve ruined the team.”

The coach simply said, “Get up Riegels. The game is only half over. You belong on the field.”

He did the take the field that afternoon, playing what he later referred to as the best half of football in his college career. He said, “I gained true understanding of life from my Rose Bowl mistake. I learned you can bounce back…”

It’s a lesson we can all put into practice. Even if all your life has been spent running the wrong way, even if your missteps have you 98 yards away from where you need to be, you belong on the playing field. There’s still some game left to play.

This reminds of what the Apostle Paul said…

This Is Not a Dress Rehearsal

Imagine that you’re involved in a play, in a community theater production of, say, My Fair Lady.

Maybe you’re ‘enry ‘iggins, or maybe you’re Liza Doolittle. Either way, you’ve spent weeks and months preparing your part. Opening night is right around the corner, and tonight is dress rehearsal.

You know what dress rehearsal is. It’s that low-risk run-through to an empty auditorium where the director gets a chance to make sure everyone knows what they’re doing.

But then, right before curtain, there’s a last-minute turn of events. The producer approaches you and says, “Tonight we have a special guest — a top talent agent has flown in from in New York to watch your performance. He’s considering you for this very role on Broadway.”

This changes the dynamic quite a bit, doesn’t it? No longer is it a mere dress-rehearsal. It is now the performance of your career — up to this point, anyway. How well you do tonight will determine your future on the stage.

Suddenly you’re profoundly aware of the significance of the next two hours. And, of course, you give it all you’ve got.

Next, imagine that it’s not just a local community theater production of My Fair Lady that we’re talking about. Imagine, instead, that it is your life we’re talking about, and where your “performance” today has the potential to take you.

This is, in fact, how it really works.

A lesson we learn throughout scripture is that this is not a mere dress rehearsal that we’re experiencing today. It’s not just a dry run. It’s the real thing. This day. Every day. Day after day.

We have a tendency to live, sometimes, as if today doesn’t really matter all that much. We live as if we’ll have another chance on another day to do things the way they ought to be done … so for now we can coast.

But the Bible teaches that today is the day. Today matters — and as long as it’s called today, it matters more than any other day in your life.

So what shall we do with today?

Let’s strive to follow the example of the Apostle Paul…

A Lesson From Bonnie & Clyde

There’s a scene in the movie Bonnie and Clyde where the couple is holed up somewhere in a hideout, unable to leave because the cops are on their trail. It has become obvious to them that this life of crime isn’t as glamorous as they had once imagined.

Bonnie Parker is dreaming of a new life somewhere, a clean life, where they could start over and live as other people do. She asks Clyde, “What would you do if some miracle occurred and we were able to walk out of here clean, with no record, and nobody after us? What would you do?”

Clyde Barrow thinks for a moment and says something along the lines of, “I guess I’d do things different. First, I wouldn’t live in the same state where I pulled my bank jobs, and when I wanted to rob a bank, I’d go to another state…”

Bonnie turns away in disappointment. This isn’t at all what she had in mind, but that’s Clyde Barrow for you.

This is where some get confused about grace. Paul said…

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

The slate is clean and we’re free to walk out the door and live a brand new life. But something about the old nature prefers life on the run, and we sometimes find ourselves going back to that dreadful, painfully unglamorous existence.

We were saved from the muck and the mire, and yet, sometimes we can’t wait get to back in it. This is the Clyde Barrow in each of us, that sinful creature who is always longing to return to the old way of life.

God sets you free. He wipes clean the slate. He gives you a fresh start. He does this so that you will never have to go back to a life on the lam. He pours out his grace, not so we can we can be a better Clyde Barrow, but so that we can experience the dreams of a Bonnie Parker.

These are the dreams of a new life: free from the chains of the past, free from the guilt of our sins, free to start again.

God says he will accept and acquit us — declare us not guilty — if we trust Jesus to take away our sins. (Romans 3:22 The Living Bible)

Bonnie and Clyde were both criminals, both sinners, both condemned. But this (probably fictional) vignette from their lives gives us an insight into ourselves.

Your inner “Clyde Barrow” might want to use this freedom as an excuse to sin more, but God has given you his grace so that your new nature — with those “Bonnie Parker” dreams — can experience the full freedom of life in Christ.

It’s a question of whose dreams you will choose to follow today.

You’ve been set free, pardoned, and released. You can walk out the door. How will you live out your freedom?

What Makes for a Great Ministry?

When I was first starting out in the ministry, I asked a pastor of a growing congregation what are the requirements a successful pastor must meet.

He said, “You need to be an entrepreneur. You need to be organized and efficient, able to manage your time well, and able to see projects through to completion.”

I don’t know if he realized it, but he was basically describing himself. (And he certainly wasn’t describing me.)

A few days later I asked another pastor — approaching retirement, having spent his ministry in churches of all shapes and sizes — the same question. Without hesitation, he answered, “You have to love your people.”

I said, “What about being organized and efficient? What about being a self-starter?”

He said, “A person with good organizational skills will have a larger congregation — and you should develop those skills as much as you can. But a pastor who loves will make a difference in people’s lives for all eternity.”

This doesn’t just apply to those in the ministry. It applies to all Christians everywhere.

Do you want to build something big? Be organized, ambitious, and efficient. There’s no question that it works, and the results can be good.

Do you make a difference in the world, no matter where you are, no matter what your leadership skills? You do it by loving others.

A Life-Changing Invitation

One day while Jesus was passing through Jericho, a man named Zacchaeus came to see him.

If you grew up in Sunday School, you know that Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. You may also know that he wasn’t a particularly good man; he was a tax-collector with a reputation for being dishonest.

Since he couldn’t see in the crowd, he climbed a sycamore tree to get a better view of Jesus. The Bible says…

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately, I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5)

I love the urgency in Jesus’ words: “Come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

Jesus was saying, “Zacchaeus, don’t wait. Don’t put this off. Something big is about to happen.”

How, then, did Zacchaeus respond?

So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. (Luke 19:6)

He made no excuses: “I’m not prepared. Can we do this later, after I’ve had time to get my life in order?” Instead, he seized the opportunity to have Jesus come to his home.

What happened next?

This spur-of-the-moment meeting led to a life-change for Zacchaeus. He said, in effect, “Jesus, I want to start doing things right. I’ll give half of my money to the poor, and I’ll pay four times the amount to anyone I’ve cheated.” And Jesus said…

“Today salvation has come to this house.” (Luke 19:9)

Salvation came today, because Zacchaeus responded to the invitation today. He might not have felt completely prepared to have the King of Kings enter his home, but he didn’t put it off. And his life changed as a result.

Every day brings a life-changing invitation that is our to accept or ignore. Something big is on the horizon. How you respond makes all the difference.

The How of Persistence

It’s been said that the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing again and again, hoping for a different result.

Someone then asked, “What’s the difference between that and persistence? Isn’t it irrational to keep trying, failure after failure, expecting this time the outcome won’t be the same?”

Business leader Seth Godin had something to say about this.

“Persistence isn’t using the same tactics over and over. That’s just annoying. Persistence is having the same goal over and over.”

There’s a story in the gospel of John, after the resurrection of Jesus, when the apostles had spent the entire night fishing, but caught nothing. Jesus called out to them from the shore…

“Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. (John 21:6)

It was like he was saying: “Keep trying, just do it a little differently this time.” The goal didn’t change. The strategy didn’t change. But they modified their method a little bit, and it worked.

If you’ve been in pursuit of an elusive goal — one that you know is worthwhile — the solution is not to give up. Instead, consider what you might do differently. Consider how you might approach things from a new angle. Instead of giving up, ask yourself: What would it mean, in this case, to cast my net on the other side of the boat?

The how of persistence is not that you keep doing the same thing again and again, trying and failing, trying and failing, hoping for a different outcome.

The how of persistence is that you keep pressing on, toward the same goal, adapting as you go.