Tag Archives: missional living

•

Last night I worked the third of three 12-hour shifts in a row in the ER for the week. At about 1:00 am I took report from an off-going mid-shift nurse and took responsibility for her patients. One was a terminally ill cancer patient with only a few weeks or months left to live. I met him for the first time to give him some comfort medications, a list of prescriptions, and discharge him home. I addressed him as I do all my patients, with care and respect, honoring him and the God who created him with the intent for his abundant life. As I took out his IV catheter, I inquired whether he was prepared for his death, and whether he and I would meet again before our Creator. He assured me he was secure in his eternal home, and I told him how relieved I was that we would have eternity to catch up. Before he left, he told me that in the brief ten or fifteen minutes he had known me, I had treated him with more loving compassion than anyone in his many visits to any hospital or care center he had visited in his extensive cancer treatment. 

I hope the light this man saw in me was the reflection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and not just Todd Lemmon’s glowing personality. I hope that the feedback I got from this man well-seasoned in his exposure to healthcare was an accurate assessment of the care I give all my patients. I hope I continue to have the opportunity to love the hurting, minister to the sick and dying, and prepare the souls of all I meet for a glorious life after this earthly one. I hope in my sharing this anecdote, you are encouraged to love the people you meet today as if it is the last chance you get. I hope we all get to gather around our Lord’s table one day and share stories of how some stranger made a difference in our lives. I hope your crown of glory shines like the noonday. I hope mine does too. 

•

I graduated Saturday! I’m officially a college graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), a University of Florida Gator alumnus! (#GoGatorNurses #GatoRNurse) The US allows nurses to practice with an Associate Degree as long as they pass the licensure exam, but the rest of the world is trending toward requiring the BSN. Since Uganda follows trends in the UK, it seemed wise to keep up with the global standard. 

I posted this selfie on social media sites Saturday and it has received more attention than any other post I can recall in my online history. There isn’t anything special about the lighting, the outfit, or even the guy in the frame, but the idea that someone like me can redefine himself I think appeals to people. No one is stuck being what they once were. God changes lives, and so we who believe and rely on God are excellent examples of lives that are changed. When I look back at the person I was twenty or even ten years ago I am amazed at what God has done. Each day I pray that God will build with me and do with me as He wills, and every year I am amazed when I look back at what He has done. This is one milestone I cannot look at without seeing the obvious marks of the Master’s hand at work. 

No one is stuck being

what they once were.

Here is further evidence. I just received a text from a fellow police officer who has started nursing school. She reached out to me for advice and encouragement. Nursing school is a long, hard journey. After I gave her a quick “don’t give up” pep talk, she responded with this commentary that showed I am no longer the monster of a man I once was. She said, “You are, and always have been an inspiring, encouraging, and awesome guy.” Folks, that is nothing short of miraculous evidence there is a Spirit in me that is not the spirit of Todd Lemmon. The natural me is ornery, selfish, critical, demanding, and spiteful. The me this young lady knows is someone different entirely, and I say that to honor the God who lives in me, not myself. 

God is awesome! He is still in the business of creating. He wants to re-create you today. Will you let Him? If you already have, will you prove it in the way you love those around you? Will people say that the Spirit in you made them live better, love more, shine brighter? 

May I pray for us today? 

Holy Father, today, please make Yourself obvious in the lives of those reading this. Accept the offering of our lives and do something amazing with them. Create in us something beautiful only You could imagine. Use our smile to brighten someone’s day. Give us words that will encourage someone who needs You. Be so bright in us that the darkness in those around us has to flee. May our every thought, word, and action bring You glory through Christ Jesus our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen!

•
Philippians 3:20

Are you struggling to keep from fuming in the heat of this social climate like I am? Everyone has experiences that might justify outrage, but anger that leads to sin is itself sin (Matthew 5:22).

Christian sibling, our citizenship is of Heaven (Philippians 3:20) and our duty is that of ambassadors of grace (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are to be so confoundedly forgiven that we cannot help but forgive those around us (Romans 5:17, 1 Timothy 1:14). Yet, in this social climate where hate breeds hate and malicious vengeance masquerades as justice, many of us find ourselves so entangled in our human characteristics, relationships, and experiences that we render ourselves incapable of representing grace (Hebrews 12:1). If I, as a retired police officer, allow my blue-blood to boil when I see a police mannequin hanging in a noose I squelch my outflow of grace. If I am so patriotic that a burning flag ignites my wrath I have allowed my human experience to claim part of my spirit. If what makes life matter to me is predicated by the hue of its packaging then I discredit the Creator’s majesty. If my concept of grace is limited to those who sin like me then I have forgotten from Whom it comes. 

Many of us find ourselves so entangled in our human characteristics, relationships, and experiences that we render ourselves incapable of representing grace.

We were never promised an easy time on Earth. Quite to the contrary, we are assured persecutions of increasing severity and frequency (references) until the world is judged in fire (2 Peter 3:7, 10). Jesus promised that we would overcome the world not enjoy its embrace (John 16:33). We cannot lament the descent of the whole by omitting the salvation of the few with whom we have influence. 

It is said that only the grace of God can remedy this turmoil. How true that is! But the blood that bought grace has already been spilled and the Author of Peace has already finished His work. It remains now for us to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess (Hebrews 10:23), pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44), gently instruct those who oppose us in hopes they too will escape the devil’s trap (2 Timothy 22:25-26), and do not forsake the assembling together of the saints (Hebrews 10:25). With balled fists, we cannot reach out to those who need salvation.

With balled fists, we cannot reach out to those who need salvation.

"Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen."

2 Peter 3: 17-18, NIV

To view all today's scripture references in a PDF file click here.