I love this piece by one of my favorite authors, John Fischer, at The Fischtank :)
The Spirit of God dances. He can't be tamed. He won't be contained. He refuses to be confined to a weekend retreat, an evening meeting, or a moment of devotion. He doesn't follow schedules, programs, or agendas, and He doesn't wait for His name to be called. The Spirit of God dances.
He dances right under the noses of those who don't believe in dancing; and He dances right on by those who do. He dances through the assemblies of the keepers of the dance, and right on out the door—and no one sees Him go. And as the dancers continue their pantomime, the Spirit of God dances in the streets.
His favorite dancing places are those where the keepers of the dance don't want Him to go, like on smoky stages with microphones that smell of whiskey. The Spirit of God loves sinners and dances best where life spills out on the floor.
Occasionally He dances on the clean, sweet-smelling stages of the keepers of the dance—but not as often as He would like. He dances there when there is pain or grief—whenever life spills out on the floor. But usually the floor is clean and the dance is simulated, carefully choreographed by the keepers of the dance to use only those steps with which they feel secure.
The Spirit of God refuses to be choreographed. His dance is raw, new, and jerky. It's not always pleasing to the eye, but His dance is fresh in the lives of those whose floors have not been cleaned up. It isn't well rehearsed, polished, or perfect; it slips and slides, sometimes innovative and shocking and at other times just exhilarant, but it's always real.
Sometimes the dance turns to mourning, but always there's the dance. Happy dance or sad dance… the Spirit of God always dances. Most people, even those who pride themselves in their dancing, are afraid of this unpredictable dance. They're afraid of anything they can't control; and His dance is wild, unmanageable—even mad.
But most important, it's vulnerable, open to criticism—the quality they fear most. So they must create their own dance of predictable steps and prescribed routines and send all their people through dance school—or outlaw dancing altogether. But this should come as no surprise. It has always been this way.
The Lord of the Dance himself was here once, and it was the same way then. He danced on the keepers' holy days and broke their holy laws. His timing—if not His whole dance—always seemed offbeat. He wanted to turn their empty religious movements into heartfelt, joyous dancing.
He wanted them to exchange the grip of the Law for the freedom of the dance. But they thought He was a clumsy dancer, always bumping into their traditions and stepping on their toes. He even danced with the wrong crowd, in smoke-filled rooms, with messy floors.
Once, describing His generation, He declared, "We played the flute for you, but you would not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' "
…and the Spirit of God dances on.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Lights Out
The other day I popped into to local library to check out a book. While I was there I logged onto the public computer to check my e-mail. Boom! Instant darkness. The monitors were blank, and all the patrons let out a collective, "Awww" along with a few whispered expletives.
Frustration at the inconvenience was soon forgotten as we heard children screaming. They were trapped in the elevator. No sooner had they begun their ascent than the power went out. Imprisoned in their pitch-black container, they were panic-sticken to the point of hysteria.
I rushed over and called out to them hoping to bring some calm to the situation. The unfamiliar voice in the darkness only added to their terror. The three boys were so loud they couldn't hear the people who were trying to help them.
Their mother arrived (she had been in the restroom when the lights went out--oh, joy) and although she had been down a long hallway some distance away, she recognized the screams of her children the second the electricity failed. She called each one by name, and the instant they heard their name, and recognized the voice of the one doing the calling, they began to settle.
"Sit down. Sit close together and hold hands. Be quiet so you can hear me. Got it?!" She turned and explained that they knew they were forbidden to ride the elevator without her, and she had half a mind to leave them threre until the power was restored in order to teach them a lesson.
A search of the maintenace room failed to turn up the emergency key for the elevator. The fire and rescue unit was summoned and they arrived within about ten minutes. After another ten minutes of searching the same room for the same misplaced key, the rescuers had a key brought over from the fire station.
Finally, the siblings were extricated from their dungeon. The looks on their faces told the mom that the ordeal had been punishment enough. It would be awile before they would be riding an elevator without adult supervision. As they embraced the tears began to flow uncontrolably. They were safe, but shaken.
I sat there thinking about what I had just witnessed. God whispered the lesson to my heart. "When you are in a dark and frightening situation, trapped and without options, do not be afraid. I will come to you. I will call you by name. Sit still and be quiet so you can hear me." A smile crossed my lips and a whispered 'thank you' rose as a prayer.
Frustration at the inconvenience was soon forgotten as we heard children screaming. They were trapped in the elevator. No sooner had they begun their ascent than the power went out. Imprisoned in their pitch-black container, they were panic-sticken to the point of hysteria.
I rushed over and called out to them hoping to bring some calm to the situation. The unfamiliar voice in the darkness only added to their terror. The three boys were so loud they couldn't hear the people who were trying to help them.
Their mother arrived (she had been in the restroom when the lights went out--oh, joy) and although she had been down a long hallway some distance away, she recognized the screams of her children the second the electricity failed. She called each one by name, and the instant they heard their name, and recognized the voice of the one doing the calling, they began to settle.
"Sit down. Sit close together and hold hands. Be quiet so you can hear me. Got it?!" She turned and explained that they knew they were forbidden to ride the elevator without her, and she had half a mind to leave them threre until the power was restored in order to teach them a lesson.
A search of the maintenace room failed to turn up the emergency key for the elevator. The fire and rescue unit was summoned and they arrived within about ten minutes. After another ten minutes of searching the same room for the same misplaced key, the rescuers had a key brought over from the fire station.
Finally, the siblings were extricated from their dungeon. The looks on their faces told the mom that the ordeal had been punishment enough. It would be awile before they would be riding an elevator without adult supervision. As they embraced the tears began to flow uncontrolably. They were safe, but shaken.
I sat there thinking about what I had just witnessed. God whispered the lesson to my heart. "When you are in a dark and frightening situation, trapped and without options, do not be afraid. I will come to you. I will call you by name. Sit still and be quiet so you can hear me." A smile crossed my lips and a whispered 'thank you' rose as a prayer.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Take Heed
John Bunyan, author of the classic Pilgrim's Progress, writes in his Epistle to the Reader...
"... take heed of being painted fire, wherein is no warmth;
and painted flowers, which retain no smell,
and of being painted trees, whereon is no fruit.
Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift,
is like clouds and wind without rain."
"... take heed of being painted fire, wherein is no warmth;
and painted flowers, which retain no smell,
and of being painted trees, whereon is no fruit.
Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift,
is like clouds and wind without rain."
Thursday, July 23, 2009
answered prayers
"When the focus of your life goes from getting answers to your prayers to becoming answers to the prayers of others, you'll know Him like never before." ~ Darin Hufford
Sunday, July 12, 2009
God always protects?
God always protects. In a previous post about taking my then three-year daughter to the doctor, I speculated about what that divine protection could look like. That episode helps shed a little light on the subject, but makes it seem that God is always behind our pain, or that there is a divine/ultimate purpose for our pain.
God always protects. My reaction is, "No! There is plenty of painful evidence that he doesn't!" Always? Don't try selling that to the parents of the young couple who was killed by a drunk driver Friday night. The promise sounds good, but what about the consequences of our (and others) destructive choices. God can redeem these situations, no question; but that is a big difference from protection.
Other translations of the bible read, "Love bears all things." I decided to do some deeper study. Words can have different meanings. In my native tongue the word "rock" can refer to a stone to throw, something to do in a chair with a baby in your arms, a type of music, a person’s name. Rock.
The New Testament was written in Greek and the word in question (stego, στέγω) can mean: “bear, forbear, overhang (like a roof, thus to protect)”, to preserve or keep by covering (think Saran wrap). It can mean to hide or conceal, to carry on one's person in a secret place.
So then "love always covers." Love does not expose the one it loves.
Like a sculptor working on a masterpiece, God is an artist when it comes to you. He sees the final picture, the finished masterpiece, long before he brings it into being. Artists often cover their work, away from public view, until it is finished, protecting what is in his heart until it has been fully expressed.
Many people fear God will expose them to the world at their worst possible moment. God doesn't do that. "Love covers a multitude of sins." From the beginning of time (remember Adam and Eve) God has been in the business of covering up sin. Not in a "cover up", conspiracy, "sweep in under the rug" kind of way; but love covers the object of its affection. Love does not humiliate, embarrass or expose.
Come with me to a third grade classroom....
There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he knows when the other boys see it he will never hear the end of it, and the girls will never speak to him again as long as he lives. He puts his head down and tries to fight back the tears.
He hears footsteps and looks up, mortified to see the teacher headed for him with a look in her eyes that says he’s been discovered. Suddenly, Susie absent-mindedly walks in front of the teacher while carrying the class mascot: a goldfish in a large glass bowl. Susie trips and dumps the water into the boy's lap.
The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!" Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him out to get some gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out.
All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. As Susie tries to help, she becomes the object of ridicule that would have been the boy's. "You've done enough, you klutz! Get out of here!"
Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Susie whispers back, "I wet my pants once too, and I remember what that felt like."
That is a picture of your Heavenly Father’s heart. God loves you. You are the object of His affection. He will cover you. He will never expose you or embarrass you. In fact, he will cover up embarrassing sins and struggles that you secretly deal with. He will never humiliate you in order to humble you.
He is great at keeping things just between you and him. You are his masterpiece and he will protect you and cover you until you are complete. The only exposing God ever does in your life is when he unveils the beautiful things about you to others.
I’m not telling you that others will never find out your sins. Sin has a nasty habit of eventually exposing itself. We have all been "busted", exposed, but God was not the one who did it. This is never in his heart. Love covers, conceals closely.
Many Christians believe that when they stand before God all of their sins, a whole lifetime of failures, is going to be broadcast on huge video screens, celestial jumbo-trons, for everyone to see. This is just not true. Who is "the Accuser of the Saints?" Who delights in exposing, humiliating and embarrassing God's children?
We have taken the character of the Enemy, of Satan, and ascribed it to God. We have distorted God's character and disfigured his heart. God is love, and love always covers what it loves.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Painful Faith
I've been out of town for a week with no internet access--ugghhh! It is good to be home and back to blogging.
My friend John Fischer wrote today of "growing pains" as we die to old ways in order to live anew in our spirits. Old ways die hard--it's hard letting go of our security blankets.
Spiritual growth hurts because it often means facing long-held fears and letting go of comfortable traditions and routines.
“Put into action God’s saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him” (Philippians 2:12-13 NLT).
We obey by stepping into our weakness or our fear, trusting in the fact that because it is something He asks of us, He will meet us somewhere along the way with the power to do it.
This is a painful proposition, but if it doesn’t hurt, it’s probably not faith.
Old ways die hard, but new life dances on the gravestones.
My friend John Fischer wrote today of "growing pains" as we die to old ways in order to live anew in our spirits. Old ways die hard--it's hard letting go of our security blankets.
Spiritual growth hurts because it often means facing long-held fears and letting go of comfortable traditions and routines.
“Put into action God’s saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him” (Philippians 2:12-13 NLT).
We obey by stepping into our weakness or our fear, trusting in the fact that because it is something He asks of us, He will meet us somewhere along the way with the power to do it.
This is a painful proposition, but if it doesn’t hurt, it’s probably not faith.
Old ways die hard, but new life dances on the gravestones.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Making God's Day
The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. (Genesis 6:6)
I used to read the account of the great Flood in the Bible, the story of Noah and his family, and see an angry, fuming God. It's not there. God was grieved and sad. This is just one example that God has emotions and his heart is stirred by what we do.We can bring God joy, and we can bring him sadness and pain.
God is fully fulfilled within His own being. God does not need you, but He desires you... and me. While God doesn't need a thing, still he made us to reach out to him and perhaps find him. To do so, he would have had to make himself vulnerable to the process he created. Amazing.
One of my favorite authors, John Fisher, has "sometimes wondered if God didn't purposely create a need (a desire) in himself for us when he made us, thus making him open to both the pain and the joy of a relationship."
When working on his first novel, "Saint Ben" John explores the idea of what happens when one takes the Pascalian idea of a "God-shaped vacuum in every human heart" and turns it around. What if there is a Jim-shaped hole in the heart of God, just the size to fit my rebellious, moody, and all-too-often selfish self? What if there is a you-shaped hole in the heart of God?
That God would carve out a place for us in his heart is a mystery. That we would fulfill it is privilege worthy of life itself. So go ahead; make God's day. Seek after Him. Bring him joy and not sorrow. The choice is yours. Just know that His heart is for you, He desires a personal and intimate relationship with each one of His children.
I used to read the account of the great Flood in the Bible, the story of Noah and his family, and see an angry, fuming God. It's not there. God was grieved and sad. This is just one example that God has emotions and his heart is stirred by what we do.We can bring God joy, and we can bring him sadness and pain.
God is fully fulfilled within His own being. God does not need you, but He desires you... and me. While God doesn't need a thing, still he made us to reach out to him and perhaps find him. To do so, he would have had to make himself vulnerable to the process he created. Amazing.
One of my favorite authors, John Fisher, has "sometimes wondered if God didn't purposely create a need (a desire) in himself for us when he made us, thus making him open to both the pain and the joy of a relationship."
When working on his first novel, "Saint Ben" John explores the idea of what happens when one takes the Pascalian idea of a "God-shaped vacuum in every human heart" and turns it around. What if there is a Jim-shaped hole in the heart of God, just the size to fit my rebellious, moody, and all-too-often selfish self? What if there is a you-shaped hole in the heart of God?
That God would carve out a place for us in his heart is a mystery. That we would fulfill it is privilege worthy of life itself. So go ahead; make God's day. Seek after Him. Bring him joy and not sorrow. The choice is yours. Just know that His heart is for you, He desires a personal and intimate relationship with each one of His children.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Rendering Sin Powerless
On the cross, Jesus took care of the penalty for your sins. In one sense, sin is no longer an issue as far as a relationship with God is concerned. It won't keep Him from you or, as a result, you from Him. You don't have to get rid of it to come to Him and He no longer holds your sins against you. What would be the point of Jesus dying on the cross if you are expected to pay God back every time you sin?
That is not to say that God ignores your sins or takes sin lightly. God hates sin, not because it of what it does to Him, but because of what sin does to His children. While the penalty has been paid, the power of sin still wreaks havoc in people's lives. That is why sin is still an issue and that is what God wants to change.
The further you get from the things that destroy your life the better off you are. God truly loves putting distance between you and death. God doesn’t want you caged in a cycle of repetition, where you repeat the same destructive acts over and over, causing damage to your own life and the life of everyone connected to you.
God doesn't keep a record of wrongs--there is no need to. But God also doesn't keep a record of rights either--He doesn’t need a reason to love you and bless you. God doesn't want to punish you, He wants to heal you. He wants to undo some of the damage your sin and selfishness has caused.
We cannot experience that healing and new life apart from a daily, intimate relationship with God. "Come to me, all you who are worn out and loaded down with heavy burdens, and I will give you rest", was Jesus invitation. He is alive and that invitation is still extended today.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
God Keeps No Record of Wrongs
God is love. Love keeps no record of wrongs. This unique kind of love is unconditional and transformational.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; (Psalm 103:11-13)
What happens in a relationship when one or both parties keeps a record of the other party’s wrongs and mistakes?
If God keeps a record of wrongs then our relationship with Him is based on performance and intimacy is impossible—you can never perform good enough often enough. Since real relationship is not based on performance there is no need to keep score.
Most people who believe in God do not believe this about Him, but it is true. God keeps no record of wrongs. He will never throw your past in your face or use your mistakes as ammunition or leverage. We are never more like God than when we put down our scorecards--the ones we keep on other people, and the one we keep on ourselves.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Sensitive God
The word "sensitive" has two meanings and they are opposites.
Sometimes it is said of a person that they are "sensitive". It is a warning. They are easily offended because they are focused on themselves. Your're often told that you'd be wise to "walk on eggshells" around them. You want to be careful not to "rub them the wrong way."
The other kind of "sensitve" person is rarely offended. They are not focused on themselves but on the needs of others. You can tell them anything, even be bluntly honest, and they can handle it.
Which one of these describes your God?
You can be grateful that God is the latter. If He were like the first description you and I would never have a chance. He is sensitive to your struggles and invites you, welcomes you, into His presence.
Sometimes it is said of a person that they are "sensitive". It is a warning. They are easily offended because they are focused on themselves. Your're often told that you'd be wise to "walk on eggshells" around them. You want to be careful not to "rub them the wrong way."
The other kind of "sensitve" person is rarely offended. They are not focused on themselves but on the needs of others. You can tell them anything, even be bluntly honest, and they can handle it.
Which one of these describes your God?
You can be grateful that God is the latter. If He were like the first description you and I would never have a chance. He is sensitive to your struggles and invites you, welcomes you, into His presence.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Wonderful Weekend
Spent Friday in a theme park with the boy-child. His school choir was in a regional competition after which all the groups headed into the park with the awards ceremony and trophy presentation scheduled just before closing time. We had a blast! His school racked up: four trophies (3 first place), a couple of "Superior" ratings (the highest), and a couple of ribbons for individual performances.
Best news of the weekend: My friend who had not awakened from laparoscopic gall bladder surgery four weeks ago opened his eyes and was waving. When I finally got to see him Sunday evening he was sitting up and we had a nice, although brief, chat. I didn't realize until later that he was riding a bed pan and I had come at a most inopportune time.
Sunday morning as part of our worship service we surprised the group with a renewal of wedding vows ceremony right in the middle of the sermon. They are celebrating their tenth anniversary this week.
Their love story began twelve and a half years ago. She was the mother of two girls, ages 9 and 6, whose husband/daddy had recently divorced the family.
Best news of the weekend: My friend who had not awakened from laparoscopic gall bladder surgery four weeks ago opened his eyes and was waving. When I finally got to see him Sunday evening he was sitting up and we had a nice, although brief, chat. I didn't realize until later that he was riding a bed pan and I had come at a most inopportune time.
Sunday morning as part of our worship service we surprised the group with a renewal of wedding vows ceremony right in the middle of the sermon. They are celebrating their tenth anniversary this week.
Their love story began twelve and a half years ago. She was the mother of two girls, ages 9 and 6, whose husband/daddy had recently divorced the family.
So these two wounded people met for the first time, at a softball game of all places. Introduced by a friend of hers, who happened to be a co-worker of his. A friendship grew and blossomed. They dated for over two years.
The time came when they believed that marriage was the next step in their relationship. It was time to make known to their family and friends that this was a permanent relationship, and in their hearts they were committed to each other for a lifetime.
On the day of the wedding, as they exchanged vows and rings, the handsome groom not only gave a ring to his new bride, but matching rings to her daughters; for now he considered them his daughters as well.
Not only was a marriage born that day, but also a family. God has added to it over the years and God has continually moved in their hearts to heal past pains. God is doing something new and wonderful.
They adopted a little girl seven years ago, and the oldest daughter has married so there's now a son-in-law in the mix. It was neat as they exchanged their vows which included the phrase, "I still take you..."
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
No More Tears
"Don't ever discount the wonder of your tears. They can be healing waters and a stream of joy. Sometimes they are the best words the heart can speak." ~ The Shack, p. 228
A picture of the future: God lives with people and they live with him. They belong to Him, and God himself will be with them and be their God. There is the promise that there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. But before that there is the promise that although this world is full of tears, God will be the one to wipe the tears from our eyes.
A picture of the future: God lives with people and they live with him. They belong to Him, and God himself will be with them and be their God. There is the promise that there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. But before that there is the promise that although this world is full of tears, God will be the one to wipe the tears from our eyes.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Disarming Agitators
The other day I was just a bear. Snapping at everyone. Frustrated. Agitated. Stressed. Pacing. Caged. Finally I got a piece a paper and wrote the answer to four questions:
About what am I ANGRY?
About what am I ANXIOUS?
Of what am I AFRAID?
What am I AVOIDING?
It was amazing, the instant peace that settled over me by just seeing these things in front of me. Two or three things under each heading. Identifying them didn't make them disappear but suddenly took the teeth out of them.
The things about which I was angry--frustrations with family members--suddenly seemed petty. I even laughed that I had been stressing over a couple of these things. Anxiety and fear turned to resolve to confront the things I had been avoiding.
Amazing how quickly this little exercise transformed my whole disposition. These agitators and stressors become so small and were instantly disarmed when dragged into the light.
About what am I ANGRY?
About what am I ANXIOUS?
Of what am I AFRAID?
What am I AVOIDING?
It was amazing, the instant peace that settled over me by just seeing these things in front of me. Two or three things under each heading. Identifying them didn't make them disappear but suddenly took the teeth out of them.
The things about which I was angry--frustrations with family members--suddenly seemed petty. I even laughed that I had been stressing over a couple of these things. Anxiety and fear turned to resolve to confront the things I had been avoiding.
Amazing how quickly this little exercise transformed my whole disposition. These agitators and stressors become so small and were instantly disarmed when dragged into the light.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Living in the Light
"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:5-7)
I've always heard that "walking in darkness" meant sinfulness, breaking God's rules. "Walking in the light" meant following God's rules, doing good, being good... being perfect like God is perfect.
A new understanding is that "walking in darkness" means living a life of secrecy, hiding, wearing a mask, deception. "Walking in the light" doesn't mean a person is sin-free, but rather they are honest about the shortcomings, failures, destructive habits and sin with which they struggle.
"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." (John 3:19-21)
So John concludes: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." (1 John 1:8-10)
I've always heard that "walking in darkness" meant sinfulness, breaking God's rules. "Walking in the light" meant following God's rules, doing good, being good... being perfect like God is perfect.
A new understanding is that "walking in darkness" means living a life of secrecy, hiding, wearing a mask, deception. "Walking in the light" doesn't mean a person is sin-free, but rather they are honest about the shortcomings, failures, destructive habits and sin with which they struggle.
"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." (John 3:19-21)
So John concludes: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." (1 John 1:8-10)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Love is Not Proud
I love my children. I am proud of my children. In what sense is love not proud? When our pride is in others it is loving, when our pride is self-centered it can become noxious, even deadly to relationships. True love is not proud, selfish, arrogant, puffed-up.
I was eating Rice Krispies cereal this morning. "Snap, crackle and pop" when the milk is poured. Puffed rice. Bigger than a regular grain of rice... and hollow. Prideful people are like that, trying to appear bigger than they really are and hollow on the inside. Prideful people are puffed up.
God is love. Love is not proud. God is not prideful. We were not created to worship God. We were created in hopes that we would choose to be in relationship with Him. Worship is the consummation of relationship. Worship is not about a prideful God who made people so they could constantly tell Him how great He is. God is not proud.
God does not need you, or anyone, or anything--He is fully fulfilled within Himself. While God does not need you, He desires you. Your Creator wants you to know His heart and to choose to live your life with Him. God is not proud or selfish, though He is often misrepresented to be both those things. You are the object of His affection.
I was eating Rice Krispies cereal this morning. "Snap, crackle and pop" when the milk is poured. Puffed rice. Bigger than a regular grain of rice... and hollow. Prideful people are like that, trying to appear bigger than they really are and hollow on the inside. Prideful people are puffed up.
God is love. Love is not proud. God is not prideful. We were not created to worship God. We were created in hopes that we would choose to be in relationship with Him. Worship is the consummation of relationship. Worship is not about a prideful God who made people so they could constantly tell Him how great He is. God is not proud.
God does not need you, or anyone, or anything--He is fully fulfilled within Himself. While God does not need you, He desires you. Your Creator wants you to know His heart and to choose to live your life with Him. God is not proud or selfish, though He is often misrepresented to be both those things. You are the object of His affection.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Love Lived Out
I know I've been inconsistent with posts the lasts couple of weeks. Lots going on. Stress.
A friend of mine went to the hospital three weeks ago today with severe abdominal pain. He's still there, in the Intensive Care Unit.
He had gall bladder surgery eighteen days ago and during surgery he aspirated, lungs filling with fluid, and he has not yet awakened from that. His wife has held constant vigil by his bedside for nearly three weeks. She is hopeful for a full recovery and wants to be there when he wakes up.
On the home front, my Mother-in-law had a stroke last July and came to live with us in October. My wife is a teacher, so her days are non-stop with work and then care-giving when she returns home. The days seem endless with very few breaks in a grinding monotony of our weekly routines. Signs of long-term improvement are few are far between, but we are hopeful.
Watching these two women, my friends wife and mine, has taught me what real love looks like. Patient. Kind. Humble. Sacrificial. Enduring. Selfless. Love does the dirty work, and does it for the long haul. Love is not the feel-good, romance sold to us in novels and movies. Love doesn't bail out when it's no longer fun or ceases to feel good.
Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
A friend of mine went to the hospital three weeks ago today with severe abdominal pain. He's still there, in the Intensive Care Unit.
He had gall bladder surgery eighteen days ago and during surgery he aspirated, lungs filling with fluid, and he has not yet awakened from that. His wife has held constant vigil by his bedside for nearly three weeks. She is hopeful for a full recovery and wants to be there when he wakes up.
On the home front, my Mother-in-law had a stroke last July and came to live with us in October. My wife is a teacher, so her days are non-stop with work and then care-giving when she returns home. The days seem endless with very few breaks in a grinding monotony of our weekly routines. Signs of long-term improvement are few are far between, but we are hopeful.
Watching these two women, my friends wife and mine, has taught me what real love looks like. Patient. Kind. Humble. Sacrificial. Enduring. Selfless. Love does the dirty work, and does it for the long haul. Love is not the feel-good, romance sold to us in novels and movies. Love doesn't bail out when it's no longer fun or ceases to feel good.
Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
Friday, May 15, 2009
First Love
I heard it again recently and I cringe every time. "God is holy and cannot or will not look upon sin and/or sinners. Only after we come to the cross and repent of our sin will God have anything to do with us. Only after a person becomes a Christian will God love them or listen to their prayers."
It is just not true. Jesus was tagged "a friend of sinners", and while not intended as a compliment by any means, he wore it as a badge of honor. The way Jesus loved people is the way God loves people--same heart.
The idea that only after we come to Christ, confess our sins, repent and turn from our old lives will God be able to love us is just wrong.
"Because God loved the world so much, He gave His One and Only Son, and who ever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." That little passage from John's Gospel is perhaps the best known verse in all the New Testament.
What comes first, the loving or the giving? He loved us first, that's the reason He gave. His love motivates His giving.
The loving comes first on His part, and that's what draws us. That's what gives us the courage to come out of hiding and confront the filth in our hearts and our lives. We respond to that love with confession of shortcomings, a changed mind and a change in behavior.
We don't "repent" in order to earn His love, but because we finally "get" just how much we are loved.
He loved you before the cross. He has always loved you. That is the very reason for the cross.
The Disciple named John sees it like this:
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us... We love because he loved us first. " (1 John 4:7-12, 19)
It is just not true. Jesus was tagged "a friend of sinners", and while not intended as a compliment by any means, he wore it as a badge of honor. The way Jesus loved people is the way God loves people--same heart.
The idea that only after we come to Christ, confess our sins, repent and turn from our old lives will God be able to love us is just wrong.
"Because God loved the world so much, He gave His One and Only Son, and who ever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." That little passage from John's Gospel is perhaps the best known verse in all the New Testament.
What comes first, the loving or the giving? He loved us first, that's the reason He gave. His love motivates His giving.
The loving comes first on His part, and that's what draws us. That's what gives us the courage to come out of hiding and confront the filth in our hearts and our lives. We respond to that love with confession of shortcomings, a changed mind and a change in behavior.
We don't "repent" in order to earn His love, but because we finally "get" just how much we are loved.
He loved you before the cross. He has always loved you. That is the very reason for the cross.
The Disciple named John sees it like this:
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us... We love because he loved us first. " (1 John 4:7-12, 19)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Incomparable Worth
Jesus once told the following parable (Matthew 13:45-46):"The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."
I've always heard that taught as "you should be willing to give up everything to obtain 'the kingdom of God' ("salvation"); that's what it costs...and it's worth the cost."
What if...
the guy who sold everything he had in order to buy the incomparable pearl was God and you were the incomparable pearl?
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Ruby (for Mother's Day)
She had always wanted to be an actress
but she kept her career at home,
Playing out a cast of thousands
with not one to call her own.
For her husband she was Bathsheba,
Florence Nightingale for the kids,
For the neighbors she was the only one
who always had the time to give.
And when the rouge came off
at the end of the day
No one heard her say:
(chorus)
Lord, I want to be a ruby for you
and feel your pleasure in all that I do,
but I need some help on this weary way
'cause I don't think I can be
Super Woman one more day.
(bridge)
Who can find a virtuous woman?
Like rubies her value is high;
The heart of her husband does trust her
and on her rely.
She speaks with words of wisdom
gives life with acts of kindness
she eats not the bread of idleness
and her children call her blessed.
(Second verse)
Her husband grew tired of Bathsheba
and left to find a Monroe.
Her children grew up and grew wiser
too wise to need help to grow.
Sometimes her neighbors go see her
perform on a local stage,
And they say to themselves as they exit,
"Poor Ruby sure is showing her age."
But at night all alone
as she climbs up the stairs
she remembers her prayer:
(chorus)
Lord, I want to be a ruby for you
and feel your pleasure in all that I do,
but I need some help on this weary way
'cause I don't think I can be
Super Woman one more day.
No I don't think I can be
Super Woman one more day.
-------------------------------
I heard this song some 25 years ago and it stuck with me. At the time I was a young adult who had just left home and my parents were divorcing after 23 years of marriage. It reminded me of my Mom and how she has always been so giving and loving to everyone in her life.
Happy Mother's Day to Mom... and all the other "Rubies" out there.
(I do not know the author of the lyrics, but if anyone does please let me know so I can give them proper credit. Thanks.)
but she kept her career at home,
Playing out a cast of thousands
with not one to call her own.
For her husband she was Bathsheba,
Florence Nightingale for the kids,
For the neighbors she was the only one
who always had the time to give.
And when the rouge came off
at the end of the day
No one heard her say:
(chorus)
Lord, I want to be a ruby for you
and feel your pleasure in all that I do,
but I need some help on this weary way
'cause I don't think I can be
Super Woman one more day.
(bridge)
Who can find a virtuous woman?
Like rubies her value is high;
The heart of her husband does trust her
and on her rely.
She speaks with words of wisdom
gives life with acts of kindness
she eats not the bread of idleness
and her children call her blessed.
(Second verse)
Her husband grew tired of Bathsheba
and left to find a Monroe.
Her children grew up and grew wiser
too wise to need help to grow.
Sometimes her neighbors go see her
perform on a local stage,
And they say to themselves as they exit,
"Poor Ruby sure is showing her age."
But at night all alone
as she climbs up the stairs
she remembers her prayer:
(chorus)
Lord, I want to be a ruby for you
and feel your pleasure in all that I do,
but I need some help on this weary way
'cause I don't think I can be
Super Woman one more day.
No I don't think I can be
Super Woman one more day.
-------------------------------
I heard this song some 25 years ago and it stuck with me. At the time I was a young adult who had just left home and my parents were divorcing after 23 years of marriage. It reminded me of my Mom and how she has always been so giving and loving to everyone in her life.
Happy Mother's Day to Mom... and all the other "Rubies" out there.
(I do not know the author of the lyrics, but if anyone does please let me know so I can give them proper credit. Thanks.)
Friday, May 8, 2009
Paternity Testing
I am still amazed at how some Christians want to qualify the fact that God is love. That old "Yes, but..." thing keeps coming up in just about every conversation I have these days.
I am so disturbed by the attitude of many Christians toward those who are not Christians. A few have been adamant in their view that Christians are "children of God" and anyone who is not a Christian is "a child of the devil."
Personally, I think God is appalled by that attitude. What I find with many "believers" is that by labeling non-Christians (people whom God created in His own image, by the way) as "children of the devil" it seemingly justifies in their mind treating said labelees as something on the bottom of one's shoe.
The label gives some folks an excuse not to love "them" or have anything to do with "them." One women recently said to me, "There's no point in loving them until and unless they believe like we do."
Seriously, the attitude seems to be that it's okay to mistreat people and be rude since the one's being looked down upon are "children of the devil". The arrogance and smug superiority is sickening. They act like God doesn't start loving people until they convert. That is so far from His heart.
The belief that God only loves Christians, or only hears the prayers of Christians, is absolutely un-biblical and anti-Christ. God is love. God loves everyone. Jesus died to remove everyone's sin, guilt and shame.
He is not loving and patient only to those who believe, but especially to those who don't... in hopes that they one day will.
Jesus' warning to the religionists of his day seems fitting in our generation: "Woe to you... hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to... you travel half way around the world to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are." (Matthew 23:13-15)
God help us when our lives and attitudes become roadblocks to the very people God is seeking to draw to Himself.
By the way, the only people Jesus referred to as children of the devil were those same religionists referred to earlier who labeled Jesus a "friend of sinners" and refused to love the people that God loves and sent Jesus to rescue.
I am so disturbed by the attitude of many Christians toward those who are not Christians. A few have been adamant in their view that Christians are "children of God" and anyone who is not a Christian is "a child of the devil."
Personally, I think God is appalled by that attitude. What I find with many "believers" is that by labeling non-Christians (people whom God created in His own image, by the way) as "children of the devil" it seemingly justifies in their mind treating said labelees as something on the bottom of one's shoe.
The label gives some folks an excuse not to love "them" or have anything to do with "them." One women recently said to me, "There's no point in loving them until and unless they believe like we do."
Seriously, the attitude seems to be that it's okay to mistreat people and be rude since the one's being looked down upon are "children of the devil". The arrogance and smug superiority is sickening. They act like God doesn't start loving people until they convert. That is so far from His heart.
The belief that God only loves Christians, or only hears the prayers of Christians, is absolutely un-biblical and anti-Christ. God is love. God loves everyone. Jesus died to remove everyone's sin, guilt and shame.
He is not loving and patient only to those who believe, but especially to those who don't... in hopes that they one day will.
Jesus' warning to the religionists of his day seems fitting in our generation: "Woe to you... hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to... you travel half way around the world to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are." (Matthew 23:13-15)
God help us when our lives and attitudes become roadblocks to the very people God is seeking to draw to Himself.
By the way, the only people Jesus referred to as children of the devil were those same religionists referred to earlier who labeled Jesus a "friend of sinners" and refused to love the people that God loves and sent Jesus to rescue.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
God's Favor
I often hear Christians talk about trying to attain God's "favor", even competing with each other for it... seeking to be the "most spiritual" in the group.
So here is the secret...
So here is the secret...
How do you get the favor of God? You’ve got it. You’re His child. You’ve already got His favor. He doesn’t favor one child over another, otherwise Christ died for nothing.
You don’t have to serve, or out-serve others, in order to get His favor.
I’ve seen families where the children are constantly competing for the attention and affection of their parents. I've seen children who were unsuccessful in this endeavor and resort to "bad" and even dangerous behavior. After all, negative attention is better than no attention at all.
At the playground, kids on monkeybars, “Daddy, look at me!” In the Church: “Father are you looking? I did something good."
God is constantly watching. He loves you. You have His favor. You don’t have to work for His attention or affection.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
That's All He's Got
I was watching the old Rocky III movie the other day where Balboa took on Clubber Lang (played my Mr. T). In the finale, the big match, there is the scene where Rocky has taken Lang's most punishing shots and withstood them all.He realizes this guy can't beat him, the victory is his. Rocky begins to taunt Lang in an effort to get him to expend his energy and wear himself out: "Is that all you've got!? You ain't nothin'!"
I was talking with a couple of friends about recent failure on my part, giving in to temptation--old habits die hard.
As I explained how it was different this time. There wasn't a sense of God's anger about my failure or even His disappointment. I was disappointed in myself. I felt yukky. There was no feeling of condemnation on God's part. There is a strong resolve not to go down that road again... It just doesn't hold the appeal that it once did.
My friend told me how the Enemy (the devil) works; basically he's only got three tricks: he lies to us and tries to deceive us. He tempts us. He accuses us. the Bible calls him "the Tempter", the "Father of Lies", and "the Accuser of the Saints."
If we no longer buy the lie; no longer take the bait (are attracted to the lure, the temptation); and after failing, we no longer allow his accusations to stick because we know whose we are in Christ... then we win the battle. That's all he's got. That's all he's got!
There is such freedom in that!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Love Does Not Envy
Envy, jealousy and lust have one thing in common--selfishness, in constant "receive" mode, rarely in "give" mode. Envy, jealousy and lust are all anti-relationship.
The Bible seems to contradict itself when it claims that "God is love" and that "love does not envy (or lust)", and in other places has God declaring that he is "a jealous God" and stating that the Holy Spirit "envies intensely."
The difference is that our desires are selfish, and self-seeking. God is not jealous for us in a possessive sense, but is jealous on our behalf. He desires to bring fulfillment to you.
“Don’t envy for yourself, you’ll destroy yourself. I’m jealous on your behalf, so stop trying to take for yourself and let me give you what you need.”
I once knew a woman whose husband was incredibly jealous of her. She couldn't talk with her friends or go anywhere without having to give him a detailed report of where she had been, who she had been with, and what they talked about. She was constantly tormented by his suspicion, anger and paranoia. She settled for following his rules, proving herself faithful, and living with a few crumbs of freedom and independence on occasion.
Too often we think God is like that jealous husband and we believe the lie that He is selfish.
Only an envious God would give you life and then require that you give it back to Him. He gave you life to enjoy to the fullest. The truth is He never asks you to give him your life; it’s your heart He’s after.
God doesn't "use" people for His own purposes; He is not in relationship with you for what He can get out of it for Himself. God is not selfish! He does not want you to be used by anyone and He will never "use" you.
What does every parent want for their child? I want my kids to be happy, fulfilled, to love who they are and what they do – God wants the same thing for His children.
We often have a distorted view of His heart, that God is the opposite of who He really is. God is not envious, He’s not selfish.
God is not jealous of your relationships. He is NEVER in competition with your love for people. When you are loving people you are not far from the heart of God!
God is not envious because He is not in this relationship for Himself. Love never envies. God is love. God never envies.
Friday, May 1, 2009
God Always Protects
The Bible claims that "God is love" and "Love always protects", therefore God always protects.
The typical reaction is, "No! There is plenty of painful evidence that he doesn't!"
When my daughter was three years old I took her to the pediatrician for a MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccination.
I held her in my lap as she received the shots. I remember her looking up at me with tear-filled and terrified eyes. Her expression was a combination of fear, confusion and pain. She could not understand why I was betraying her and allowing these strangers to hurt her.
Was I protecting her? In the short-term, no; there was much pain. In the long-run, yes; for I was allowing her body to build up immunities to diseases that could cause her greater pain in years to come.
I think it is that way with God's protection. God is always loving, and His love always protects. God sees protection as a long-term venture, not just insulating us from short-term discomfort.
While our circumstances may cause immediate (yet temporary) pain today, God is using today's painful experiences to strengthen us so that we will be protected when facing larger challenges in the future.
Had we not gone through these present day (and past) painful experiences we would not be able to withstand the more potent and potentially fatal (to our spirits) obstacles that are to come.
God's protection is always focused on the long-term, big picture; and it's focused not so much on avoiding physical pain, but on protecting your heart.
God always protects. His protection is an expression of His love. God's protection is not the prevention of immediate pain but the preservation of our hearts.
The typical reaction is, "No! There is plenty of painful evidence that he doesn't!"
When my daughter was three years old I took her to the pediatrician for a MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccination.
I held her in my lap as she received the shots. I remember her looking up at me with tear-filled and terrified eyes. Her expression was a combination of fear, confusion and pain. She could not understand why I was betraying her and allowing these strangers to hurt her.
Was I protecting her? In the short-term, no; there was much pain. In the long-run, yes; for I was allowing her body to build up immunities to diseases that could cause her greater pain in years to come.
I think it is that way with God's protection. God is always loving, and His love always protects. God sees protection as a long-term venture, not just insulating us from short-term discomfort.
While our circumstances may cause immediate (yet temporary) pain today, God is using today's painful experiences to strengthen us so that we will be protected when facing larger challenges in the future.
Had we not gone through these present day (and past) painful experiences we would not be able to withstand the more potent and potentially fatal (to our spirits) obstacles that are to come.
God's protection is always focused on the long-term, big picture; and it's focused not so much on avoiding physical pain, but on protecting your heart.
God always protects. His protection is an expression of His love. God's protection is not the prevention of immediate pain but the preservation of our hearts.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Perfect Love
"My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love.
This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.
This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.
My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!"
(1 John 4:7-12, The Message)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Nip it in the Bud
We had a blast on our campout! We canoed and kayaked about four miles into the historic Great Dismal Swamp to the campsite and spent the next couple of days fishing, paddling in Lake Drummond and making new friends.
I brought back some souvenirs-- 8 ticks! Small in size, but of no small concern. Lyme Disease is rampant in our area and I have several friends who suffer, one with the most extreme symptoms possible. Who would have guessed that such a tiny creature could cause such huge problems?
A couple a bite areas continue to grow more inflamed with each passing day, so I headed to the doctor -- don't want to take it chances. A cycle of Doxycycline antibiotic will hopefully knock out anything before it starts.
I hear it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains, but it only takes problems (or ticks) the size of mustard seeds to create "mountains" in our lives. Barney Fife had good advice, "Nip it! Nip it in the bud!"
Choices have consequences, for better or for worse. My wife and doctor both asked me if the trip is worth all the ticks and chigger bites. Oh yeah, absolutely!!
I brought back some souvenirs-- 8 ticks! Small in size, but of no small concern. Lyme Disease is rampant in our area and I have several friends who suffer, one with the most extreme symptoms possible. Who would have guessed that such a tiny creature could cause such huge problems?
A couple a bite areas continue to grow more inflamed with each passing day, so I headed to the doctor -- don't want to take it chances. A cycle of Doxycycline antibiotic will hopefully knock out anything before it starts.
I hear it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains, but it only takes problems (or ticks) the size of mustard seeds to create "mountains" in our lives. Barney Fife had good advice, "Nip it! Nip it in the bud!"
Choices have consequences, for better or for worse. My wife and doctor both asked me if the trip is worth all the ticks and chigger bites. Oh yeah, absolutely!!
Nothing Without the Knowing
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13)
God is love. So where you see the word love replace it with the name God. I also like the way this passage is paraphrased in The Message:
"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love (have God), I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love (know God), I'm nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't have love (God), I've gotten nowhere.
So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love (knowing God)."
Jesus once said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you."
It is possible to do great things for God and never know God. It always comes back to relationship.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13)
God is love. So where you see the word love replace it with the name God. I also like the way this passage is paraphrased in The Message:
"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love (have God), I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love (know God), I'm nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't have love (God), I've gotten nowhere.
So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love (knowing God)."
Jesus once said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you."
It is possible to do great things for God and never know God. It always comes back to relationship.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Seeing Through Jesus-colored Glasses
Many people think God has ulterior motives and that blessings can’t be free gifts with no strings attached; thinking God doesn’t just give us something unless we have "earned" it or unless he wants something in return. Surely he doesn’t display true kindness, does he?
In the story of Noah and the flood, there is no anger there. The text reads that God was sorrowful and pained in his heart, grieved that it had come to this... but there is no mention of anger on his part. The flood story becomes a rescue mission to save humanity from itself, rather than the spewing of fury from an angry deity.
God is love. Love is kind. God is kind. Kindness doesn't resort to manipulation.
God is not after forced obedience; he wants to capture your heart, and then our response to Him is motivated by our love for Him. I don't know about you, but I've never felt much love for the people who've manipulated me. Why would God use such tactics (guilt, shame, fear) knowing they wouldn't lead to the kind of relationship with you that he wants to enjoy?
Too many people believe in a manipulative God who has something behind everything he does. So much religious activity that is done in God’s name (evangelism, altar calls, and pleas for offerings) is emotionally manipulative, using guilt, fear and shame to leverage the desired response.
We think God is angry, demanding and cruel, rather than patient and kind.
Where did we get the idea He was all those negative things? From the Bible, the Old Testament (OT). Did God get a makeover after Malachi? Some draw the conclusion from reading the Old Testament that God is angry and violent, while the New Testament (NT) gives them a picture of a God who is gentle and forgiving. How do you reconcile those two seemingly contradictory views?
Does that angry God ever go to the cross for you? Never. Jesus doesn’t fit the Old view of God. God shows up in human form and he is not what they imagined him to be.
What is changing is not God, but our ability to see Him; not with "veiled faces", but with unveiled faces. “Jesus is the express radiance of the image of God."
Religion in our day has gone back to grab OT to feed a sense of fear, a sense of wrath and rule-keeping. The OT better serves religious interests than the NT. Religion has over-hyped the parts of the Bible that show meanness in order to arouse fear, and then use the fear to coerce conformity.
Jesus is the exact representation of the Father’s nature. Whenever I read anything in scripture that doesn’t bear witness to the person of Jesus, then there is something about that scripture that I don’t understand.
Whatever we see in Him, the real Jesus, helps us go back and interpret the OT. When you see the OT through those eyes you see that God is slow to anger, abounding in love and kindness, and jumping past the rules and rituals, (“I’m not about sacrifices.”) seeking to capture our hearts.
Maybe the rules are not the focus of the rule giver! He is not who I thought he was, isn’t focused on the things I thought he was, and hasn’t made a big deal out of the things that I have made the big deal.
Jesus and God are always about reconciliation. He came to seek and save the lost.
Jesus was the fullest demonstration of who God is in our world and when we look at troublesome passages in the OT through that lens we get a very different picture of the heart of God.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
God is Kind
But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness(Psalms 86:15)
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The great impostor of kindness is manipulation--niceness with a hidden agenda. Real kindness never has an ulterior motive. Whenever a hidden agenda supports a kind act, the act itself ceases to be kind.
Most people’s response to a kind act is “What do you want from me?”
“Acts of kindness” don’t necessarily come from the heart. Anyone can “act out” kindness, and many
Friday, April 24, 2009
My Band of Brothers
I am loving this journey with God! It’s not always easy—every day having more hidden crud in the recesses of my heart dredged up and dealt with-- but there is nothing better than enjoying His presence and counsel every day. Killing off old habits and breaking free of destructive attitudes… learning to live loved and love others. Freedom rocks!Spiritual formation rarely happens in large group settings--which makes me wonder why we insist on "doing church" the way we do--room full of people, one guy doing most of the talking. Uggh.
I am grateful to have a handful of brothers with whom I am sharing this journey. Whether we are sharing the silence and solitude of paddling down a river, or sharing a meal together, or hanging out at the ballpark--it is so life-giving to have a small group of trusted friends.
We get together regularly just to share life-- our struggles and joys, talking about books we're reading together, sharing the challenges of being husbands and dads. Everyone needs what a group like this can offer.
We are heading into the wild this weekend--paddling to the campsite, hiking, cooking over an open flame--can't wait. Counting the hours.
This is my walk with God--it's personal and unique. But at times I walk alongside others who are on their own journey, and those times are great! I love the way Father uses others to help get me where He wants me to be.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Backlash
Yesterday's post generated some "offline" feedback, which was to be expected. As a public speaker for nearly three decades I've always been amazed that people "hear" me say things I never said.
Case in point: In yesterday's post I did not say that "everyone goes to heaven." What I actually wrote was, "It is God's heaven, He can let in whomever He wants."
Does anyone really want to argue the other side of that and basically say someone else gets to tell God who He can and cannot accept, and God has to abide by their verdict?
Bottom line: God is God. You are not. I am not. It's His call to make, not yours or mine.
I also wanted to confront Christians with the fact that too often we don't love people until after they change, rather than loving them as a way of helping them to change; change the way they see God and relate to Him, change destructive behavior, etc.
I also wanted to re-emphasize my conviction that God loves everyone because God is love. He cannot not love because that is who He is.
One friend took issue that I wrote, "God has unlimited patience with everyone". I was simply quoting scripture:
"... I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe (which means they don't yet) on him and receive eternal life." (1 Tim 1:16, NIV)
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise (that there will be a Day of the Lord when he makes all things right), as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9, NIV)
I get tired of the game of "Scriptural Gotcha"--a person could find a verse of scripture to back up and reinforce just about any theological point they wish to argue. That doesn't get us anywhere--like a dog chasing it's own tail.
The whole point of yesterday's post was "God is loving and patient; not only with those who believe, but especially to those who don't... in hopes that they one day will."
I stand by that.
In the comment section MaryMartha diagnosed the disease accurately: too many have the "older brother complex" from the Prodigal Son story in Luke 15. "Lo, these many years I have been serving you (God); I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a ...whatever... that I might make merry with my friends."
It is the attitude of religious performance and obligation, and it is deadly; for the one possessing such an attitude and for the "little brothers" they look down upon.
It's amazing to me that we so often are resistant to, and push back against, the simple truths that "God is love" and "God loves people", period.
Case in point: In yesterday's post I did not say that "everyone goes to heaven." What I actually wrote was, "It is God's heaven, He can let in whomever He wants."
Does anyone really want to argue the other side of that and basically say someone else gets to tell God who He can and cannot accept, and God has to abide by their verdict?
Bottom line: God is God. You are not. I am not. It's His call to make, not yours or mine.
I also wanted to confront Christians with the fact that too often we don't love people until after they change, rather than loving them as a way of helping them to change; change the way they see God and relate to Him, change destructive behavior, etc.
I also wanted to re-emphasize my conviction that God loves everyone because God is love. He cannot not love because that is who He is.
One friend took issue that I wrote, "God has unlimited patience with everyone". I was simply quoting scripture:
"... I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe (which means they don't yet) on him and receive eternal life." (1 Tim 1:16, NIV)
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise (that there will be a Day of the Lord when he makes all things right), as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9, NIV)
And finally, one friend took exception with my implying that everyone was a child of God. He chapter-and-versed me:
"Yet to all who received him (Jesus), to those who believed in his (Jesus') name, he gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12) His point was that only after one believes in Jesus do they become a child of God.
I get tired of the game of "Scriptural Gotcha"--a person could find a verse of scripture to back up and reinforce just about any theological point they wish to argue. That doesn't get us anywhere--like a dog chasing it's own tail.
The whole point of yesterday's post was "God is loving and patient; not only with those who believe, but especially to those who don't... in hopes that they one day will."
I stand by that.
In the comment section MaryMartha diagnosed the disease accurately: too many have the "older brother complex" from the Prodigal Son story in Luke 15. "Lo, these many years I have been serving you (God); I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a ...whatever... that I might make merry with my friends."
It is the attitude of religious performance and obligation, and it is deadly; for the one possessing such an attitude and for the "little brothers" they look down upon.
It's amazing to me that we so often are resistant to, and push back against, the simple truths that "God is love" and "God loves people", period.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Believers Only?
I asked a group of Christians how they would feel if they got to heaven and found Buddhists, Hindus, homosexuals and women who'd had abortions sitting around laughing with Jesus.
Silence.
I waited. I repeated the question.
"That would never happen because the Bible is clear that people like that won't be there."
"What if they were?", I pressed. "After all it's His heaven, He can let in whomever he wants. What if people whom you knew for a fact didn’t believe in Jesus made it to heaven just like you did? How would you feel?
Again, silence.
After I told them about another group to whom I had posed the same question, and that group's consensus was "Angry. Cheated.", this group began to open up a little.
What surfaced was a sentiment among "the faithful" that it would be unfair of God to allow others in who had not "played by the rules" by which they themselves had kept for years.
(reminded me of this story that Jesus told. Matthew 20:1-16)
Many people in Christianity feel they have been called to safeguard heaven from people whose actions don’t deserve it, and deep down want people to pay for their shortcomings. After all, "it’s only fair."
"Houston, we have a problem."
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(An excerpt from The Shack by William P. Young", p. 192)
Papa (God): "Honey, you asked me what Jesus accomplished on the cross; so now listen to me carefully; through his death and resurrection, I am now fully reconciled to the world."
Mack: "The whole world? You mean those who believe in you, right?"
Papa: "The whole world, Mack. All I am telling you is that reconciliation is a two-way street, and I have done my part, totally, completely, finally. It is not the nature of love to force a relationship but it is the nature of love to open the way."
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God is love. God loves everyone. God has unlimited patience with everyone, believers and unbelievers. His patience is an expression of His love.
He is loving and patient with all His children, even the one's who don't yet believe in Him.
He is hoping to win their heart. How do you know that someone who doesn't believe in God today will do so three months from now?
He is not loving and patient only to those who believe, but especially to those who don't... in hopes that they one day will.
Silence.
I waited. I repeated the question.
"That would never happen because the Bible is clear that people like that won't be there."
"What if they were?", I pressed. "After all it's His heaven, He can let in whomever he wants. What if people whom you knew for a fact didn’t believe in Jesus made it to heaven just like you did? How would you feel?
Again, silence.
After I told them about another group to whom I had posed the same question, and that group's consensus was "Angry. Cheated.", this group began to open up a little.
What surfaced was a sentiment among "the faithful" that it would be unfair of God to allow others in who had not "played by the rules" by which they themselves had kept for years.
(reminded me of this story that Jesus told. Matthew 20:1-16)
Many people in Christianity feel they have been called to safeguard heaven from people whose actions don’t deserve it, and deep down want people to pay for their shortcomings. After all, "it’s only fair."
"Houston, we have a problem."
-----------------------------------------------
(An excerpt from The Shack by William P. Young", p. 192)
Papa (God): "Honey, you asked me what Jesus accomplished on the cross; so now listen to me carefully; through his death and resurrection, I am now fully reconciled to the world."
Mack: "The whole world? You mean those who believe in you, right?"
Papa: "The whole world, Mack. All I am telling you is that reconciliation is a two-way street, and I have done my part, totally, completely, finally. It is not the nature of love to force a relationship but it is the nature of love to open the way."
-----------------------------------------------
God is love. God loves everyone. God has unlimited patience with everyone, believers and unbelievers. His patience is an expression of His love.
He is loving and patient with all His children, even the one's who don't yet believe in Him.
He is hoping to win their heart. How do you know that someone who doesn't believe in God today will do so three months from now?
He is not loving and patient only to those who believe, but especially to those who don't... in hopes that they one day will.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Heaven's Trinkets
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)...they fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created." (Revelation 4:10-11)
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I often hear the comment made to people who have gone through a trying time or season of suffering (or spent decades with a cranky spouse), "You're going to get an extra jewel in your crown for that."
It comes from the idea that we will receive crowns in heaven, and the more difficulties we've endured or the more good deeds one has done, the more be-jeweled your crown will be.
I think sometimes it turns into an unspoken competition. A silent attitude of "I want my hard work to have paid off."
Some folks feel "It wouldn't be fair if others get the same as me; I deserve better for all the hard work I've done. It wouldn't be right if those who haven't done as much as I have were to get the same as me."
Love doesn't keep score. This attitude of performance and reward is a foreign concept for people of grace.
Heaven's rewards--Jewels in our crowns and crowns for our heads. The crowns are not for us, and not for "bragging rights", as many suppose. We will turn around and cast those very crowns at the feet of the King in an act of worship. The crowns we receive are not for us; they are for Him.
The jewel-encrusted crown for which many have labored are mere trinkets. The icons of our greatest efforts are like the dime-store mardi gras beads for which we clamored as children.
Our crowns are heaven's trinkets--of little value compared to the riches and glory of The King. They are like pennies given to children to toss into the fountain. The value is not in the object being thrown, but seeing the joy, enthusiasm and expectancy on the faces of the children doing the throwing. The real treasure is simply being with the King Himself.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Q & A: Rick Warren
Mega-church pastor, Rick Warren, found himself in a hotbed of controversy when he accepted President Obama's invitation to pray at the inauguration in January.
Several gay and liberal activists decried the choice because Warren opposes same-sex marriage, even though the California mega-church pastor's recent activism has been focused more on poverty reduction and HIV/AIDS around the world.
Since the inauguration, Warren has declined to do interviews with the media, but he spoke with Christianity Today's Sarah Pulliam on April 8 about the backlash from that invitation, Easter, California's Proposition 8, politics and how the economy is affecting his church's global outreach.
I found it to be an interesting read, especially the part where he said he apologized to gay community leaders.
Here's Your Sign...
I overheard the following conversation in the hallway of a local high school today:
Guy !: "The baseball game this afternoon has been canceled."
Guy 2: "Really!? Why?"
Guy 1: "It's raining."
Guy 2: "Outside?"
I so badly wanted to interject, but I just bit my tongue.
Guy !: "The baseball game this afternoon has been canceled."
Guy 2: "Really!? Why?"
Guy 1: "It's raining."
Guy 2: "Outside?"
I so badly wanted to interject, but I just bit my tongue.
God is Patient
“I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life” (1 Tim. 1:16).
He never calculates in his mind what you deserve for your failures in life.
He never tallies up your mistakes in an effort to build a case against you.
He is not even the slightest bit irritated when you repeat the same mistake over and over again. God understands and he is patient.
AND: Love is patient.
THEN: God is patient.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not willing that anyone should perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
God is patient, long-suffering, “But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness.” (Psalms 86:15)
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The word ‘patience’ has within it an implied opposite extreme. We think patience must have wrath, anger and un-restraint at the other end in order to exist. Patience is “instead of” or “opposed to” something much worse.
We wrongly think that patience is holding back anger that is begging to be released. That’s not it.
You can’t learn patience—you either have it or you don’t. When you love, you have it; and when you don’t love you don’t have it.
Patience comes through understanding and understanding comes through love. When you love someone you understand their heart, and when you understand their heart you have patience.
Love sees everything in a person’s heart. It doesn’t even begin to lose patience, because it understands completely why a person does what they do.
Many people believe God is waiting for them to get their act together; that he has washed his hands of them until they straighten up and stop making mistakes—this is their interpretation of God’s patience with them.
For many people, “God is being patient with me” means "He is so disgusted with me that he can’t stand it, but he is holding back from giving me what I deserve."
God is patient with you because he understands you fully and completely. His eyes see past the sin and straight into your heart. He understands exactly why you do what you do.
His patience with you is not a case of God holding back his boiling anger; rather it is simply God knowing you so well that He doesn't even begin to lose patience.
God is patient with you because you are “fully known” by Him. God knows you better than you know yourself and his focus is always on your heart. That is the part of you that he is in love with. Within your heart lies the truth about who you really are.
He never calculates in his mind what you deserve for your failures in life.
He never tallies up your mistakes in an effort to build a case against you.
He is not even the slightest bit irritated when you repeat the same mistake over and over again. God understands and he is patient.
Love will never stop or leave you half-way through. Love’s resolve to stay forever is what gives it patience.
The reason many people don’t have patience in their marriage is because they haven’t decided once and for all that they will never leave.
God has decided whole-heartedly that he will be with you for all eternity. He’s not thinking of leaving or sneaking out early. He is in for the long haul. He has a clear vision of the finish line. And because of that he possesses patience.
God has patience with you because he knows the end of your story, and he is pleased with it. It’s a happy ending.
(excerpts from The God's Honest Truth by Darin Hufford)
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