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.

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)

Sunset on Lake Drummond

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!!

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.

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?

Because we've given ourselves over to the counterfeit version of kindness, we have redefined the character of God to fit the lie we believe.

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.

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.

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.

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?” It is almost beyond belief that someone would do something nice for us without wanting something in return. “There are no free lunches", we tell our children.

Often, when someone is kind, we seek to control the situation by paying back what was done--let ourselves off the hook, even the score so we won’t be indebted to the person.

Real kindness humbles us, and we don’t like that feeling. Until we are able to receive authentic kindness we will never know the heart of God!

“Acts of kindness” don’t necessarily come from the heart. Anyone can “act out” kindness, and many kind acts are just that, an act.

God is not who many of us were taught that he was. God is love, and love is kind; therefore, God is kind. God never uses manipulation--fear, guilt, threat of brutality--to get people to behave. If it is not kind, with no strings attached, then it is not God.

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.

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)

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.

So I chapter-and-versed him right back: "Ephesians 2:2, 5:6, and Colossians 3:6 all refer to 'children of disobedience' or 'disobedient children'." All people are God's children, some are obedient and some are living in disobedience; unbelief or outright rebellion against 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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

IF: God is love.

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’s not even tempted to ever take his hands off of you regardless of what you’ve done in your life.

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)

False Advertisement?

I found an advertisement on my front door knob yesterday morning for a "Christian pest control" company.

I know what they meant--the folks who run the business are Christians, but what popped into my head was, "they only kill Christian termites, they let the agnostic and Jewish termites run wild." Who knew that termites could be Christian or non-Christian?

Does it really matter if the folks treating my home for termites have a little fish on their van or not? Not really. I'm more concerned that they operate honestly, provide high-quality service and charge a fair price.

I know some atheists businessmen who would meet all of those criteria. Unfortunately, I know of some "Christian" businesses who have a reputation to the contrary.

So I'm not a big fan of the fish as an advertising gimmick, especially when it turns out to be false advertising. Which has got me thinking, "What does my life 'advertise' to those who are watching?"

Lord, help me never to be guilty of false advertising. Help me to live honestly and authentically, to always be who you created me to be. Amen.

Yes, but...

As I have taught on the love of God the past few weeks it is amazing how many people are resistant to that simple message.

The internal struggle to accept God's love and mercy often gets expressed as "Yes, but..."

"Yes, God is love, but you have to emphasize His holiness, too. He is a God of justice and He is the Judge."

"Yes, God loves people, but 'He is angry with the sinner day and night'."

"Yes, God loves me, but when I sin I must confess it or I will die in an unforgiven state."

It is interesting that many people see the need to qualify God's love, or "balance" it with perceived 'negative' or punitive aspects of his personality.

We don't do this is our relationships with other people, so why do we feel the need to do it with God?

Can you imagine if every time you told your child, "I love you" you also added, "but don't forget that if you break my rules I will never forgive you until you apologize."?

Or perhaps you add an addendum to a simple statement of love to your spouse; "I love you, and I've written you a love letter... but if you don't read it every day I will burn with anger toward you."

Or tell your newborn daughter, "I love you. But when you grow up if you ever doubt my love for you I will soak you in gasoline and set you on fire."

We would never say or do those things!... with anybody, let alone the people we love. And yet many religious folks think that's exactly how God treats people who doubt, fail to read their bibles, or disobey His commandments.

A friend recently said, "We should never put a period where God puts a comma; and we should never put a comma where God puts a period."

God is love. Period. God loves you. Period. Those statements don't need to be qualified, or 'balanced' with a negative statement--especially statements that just are not true. We often believe lies about who God really is.

Sometimes Christians are advised to retain the "good news" of God's love and mercy until someone is thoroughly convinced of the "bad news" that they are wretched sinners headed for hell. That's not necessary.

People don't need to fear God before they can love God. Fear gets in the way of knowing just how much we are loved. The (good) news of His love is enough--enough to draw us... enough to keep us close... enough to transform us.

God is love. God loves you. Yes! No buts about it.

"With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us— who was raised to life for us!— is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and God's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing— nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable— absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us." (Romans 8:31-39, The Message)

Independent Choices

True love never forces.

Why does God allow bad things to happen? Does it seem cruel to you that God does not stop bad things from happening if he has the power to do so?

God is love. Love is kind. Love is never cruel. In the popular book The Shack, Papa (God) makes the following statement to Mac about this very subject:

"Nobody knows what horrors I have saved the world from 'cuz people can't see what never happened. All evil flows from independence, and independence is your choice. If I were to simply revoke all the choices of independence, the world as you know it would cease to exist and love would have no meaning.

This world is not a playground where I keep all my children free from evil. Evil is the chaos of this age that you brought to me, but it will not have the final say. Now it touches everyone that I love, those who follow me and those who don't.

If I take away the consequences of people's choices, I destroy the possibility of love. Love that is forced is no love at all. Every choice matters. You demand your independence, but then complain that I actually love you enough to give it to you."

God did not create evil, as some accuse Him of doing. Any evil you encounter in the world can be traced back to someone's selfish choice.

Parental Warning

State of the Church

In the United States in 2008 (Barna, PEW research, recent Newsweek magazine article)

• Over 4,000 churches closed.
• Over 1,700 pastors voluntarily left the ministry every month.
• 1,300 pastors were terminated every month.
• 3,500 members left the church every day.

From 1990 to 2008 in US (past 18 years)

• Total % of those claiming to be Christians dropped 10%, from 86.2% to 76%.
• % of Catholics dropped from 26.2 to 25.1 (1% drop).
• Other Christians (Mainline, Protestant, Evangelical) dropped from 60% to 50% (10% drop).
• Other Religions rose from 3.3% to 3.9% of population
• Those with "No Affiliation": rose from 8.2% to 15% (nearly doubled)
• "Don’t know/refused to answer": up from 2.3 to 5.2% (doubled+)

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Columnist Dick Staub, in addressing "the cause and cure of what ails us", asserts that "in the Age of the Hungry Soul faux Christianity dominates American religious life, as Christians have failed to represent Jesus to the world."

• The hypocrisy of sex scandals (catholic priests and head of the National Association of Evangelicals)
  
• The spread of greed, consumerism and “affluenza” (churches directing money to their own campuses rather than the poor and needy)
  
• Instead of "in the essentials unity, in the non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity", we have 3,800+ denominations
• Evangelicals have declared "war" on, and seeking political power over, “outsiders” instead of loving them
• Churches have become consumer-driven entertainment centers, demographically shaped special interest groups divided by age, ethnicity, education, income and worship style.

The Road to Recovery:

• We must restore God to the central place of our lives and churches (lukewarm, lost first love)
• We need to rediscover a holistic gospel boiled down to the essentials (Jesus didn’t come to make us Christians but to make us fully human, restoring what unraveled in our rebellion against God)
• We need to rediscover a sense of authentic community that fosters unity in diversity (more concerned with the direction of people’s lives than with the immediate perfection of their lives)
• We must serve our local community in word and deed (love God; deep faith lived out rather than talked about; moral compass; sharp, accurate, and fair ethics)

God's Tattoos

God's tattoos by John Fischer

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. (Isaiah 49:16)

Not in the sky, because the sky is too high
Not in the clouds, because the clouds can't hold you
Not on a stone, for a stone is too cold
Not on silver or gold, lest anyone think you could be sold
Not in a book, because a book could be lost

But on the palms of His hands
On the flesh
Where you can't be lost, sold or forgotten
On the flesh
Where He sees you all the time
On the flesh
Where the pain was measured out in love
On the flesh
In the warm skin of the Savior

There you are…
Permanent
Indelible
Part of…

Engraved
Cut into
Scarred forever
As God's tattoos

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One of my favorite authors, John Fischer, posted the above poem several days ago. I love this small piece of poetry and the picture it paints of God who loves us. Not everyone was so taken with it. The next day's post was entitled A funny thing happened on the way to a poem.

John apparently stirred up controversy among some of his readers for portraying God as having tattoos (and Jesus had body piercings) to describe our names that have been engraved upon the palm of God's hand.

Some, who share his daily posts with the whole family, were concerned their kids might see the metaphor as encouraging the practice of marking their bodies which as parents they disapprove of.

Still others were elated to find at least an inclusive reference to tattoos in a context they wouldn't expect. They were overjoyed with being able to take what had been for so many a source of division, and use it as a link for parents and kids—a bridge across a formerly insurmountable cultural divide.

This was the lesson John drew from the discussion: We should have an attitude of seizing every opportunity for reconciliation that we can find. There is so much that divides us without even trying. We need to put our efforts into what brings us together.

"…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
(Ephesians 4:2-3)

Amen.

Rite of Passage

This was passed on to me as true, and while I cannot confirm it, I pass it along for the spiritual lesson it teaches.

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee rite of passage into manhood?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. The boy is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us.

God's True Colors

God is love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…(1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

Since God is love, then God is patient, God is kind, God does not envy, God does not boast and is not proud. God is not rude and is not self-seeking. God is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, God always trusts, God always hopes, God always perseveres. God never fails.

God cannot NOT love... it is His very nature...He cannot be otherwise. Our society typically does not believe those things about love so we find it near impossible to believe those things about God, or that God is love.

Our culture says love is not patient. A young couple says that because they are in love they just can't wait. If you can't wait, then it's not love.

I know men and women who go from relationship to relationship with one unkind person after another. "Bad boys" often get the girl and "nice guys finish last". Kindness is not often popular in our society. If there's no kindness, then it's not love.

When I ask most couples whom I counsel who are preparing for marriage, "Why do you want to get married?" most of the reasons they give have to do with getting their own needs met--what's in it for them. Love is not self-seeking so if you're looking out for your own self-interests then it's not love.

Love keeps no record of wrongs. If you're keeping score, or use past infractions as ammunition when in the heat of an argument... then it's not love.

In a nation with a near 50% divorce rate among first-time marriages can we even make the claim that love always perseveres. Real love does. Always. If there is no perseverance then it's not love.

Because we see love as the opposite of what it really is we often see God as the opposite of who He really is. That distorted perception keeps so many people from trusting God. God loves you and wants you to love Him back. It's impossible to love someone you do not trust.

The Living Jesus

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:19-20)

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When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. (Mark 16:1-6)

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"Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. (Rev 1:17-18)

Modern "Believers"

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered his words. (Luke 24:1-8)

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Christianity is supposedly founded upon the belief that Jesus was raised from the dead and is still alive. I’m wondering lately how many who claim to be Christians really believe that. I don’t mean to sound harsh or judgmental, I'd just like you to give serious consideration to something.

Here’s what I’ve been pondering lately: Suppose someone dear to you were killed in an automobile wreck. That spot where the incident occurred would be marked in your psyche; that place would become sacred ground.

You might do like many others do these days and erect a marker, a roadside memorial. You might revisit that place on the anniversary of the event, returning each year at the same time to remember the one who was no longer with you.

Now suppose someone dear to you were killed in an automobile wreck. The paramedics and EMTs worked tirelessly and were able to resuscitate your loved one! You’d no doubt be ecstatic, overjoyed.

How often would you return to the spot of that incident and relive the events of that day? My guess is not very often. And if you did for a while after the event, it would eventually become less important to do so. Why?

Because the person was alive. They are with you. You could talk to them each day and share life together. The incident would become a memory of the past.

I’m wondering if most of the “believers” in Jesus' resurrection really believe. We relive the death every year, we return to the tomb, but would it really be so important to do so if we really talked to him each day and shared life with him?

If the angels appeared at the tomb today they might ask those making the pilgrimage, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" “What are you doing here? Why are you still stuck in the past? Jesus has been done with this place for a long time and he’s not looking back. He walked out of here and wants you to follow him and share life with him."

Just something I've been thinking about.

Saying No to Sunday Church

The following article is by Tom Ehrich who is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest. His Web site is morningwalkmedia.com I found his following article quite interesting...

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For five decades and in growing numbers, American Christians have been saying no to Sunday church. I think it is time we listened.

We have labeled them “unchurched,” “nonbelievers,” “former Christians,” “happy pagans,” “lost” and a “mission field” that’s “ripe for harvest.” These negative terms imply that the absent have a flaw that needs to be addressed.

New congregations have harvested some of these former mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churchgoers. But even their numbers rise and fall — especially when the founding pastor slips up or retires, and the overall trend in church participation remains down. In some Western states, Sunday churchgoing has fallen below 10 percent of the population.

When this slide commenced in 1964 as baby boomers began graduating from high school, many church leaders didn’t even acknowledge it. For years, they kept counting the absent as present. Then, when the losses couldn’t be ignored, they blamed them on whatever hot-button issues were roiling the religious establishment, as if new liturgies, women in leadership and liberals (or conservatives, take your pick) had driven people away.

We need to see that these “formers” aren’t saying no to God, or to their Christian identity, or to their yearning for faith. Many are simply saying no to Sunday church.

They are expressing a preference for something other than getting up early on Sunday, driving across town, sitting in a pew for an hour or more, making small talk with people they don’t really know, and driving home again.

They are saying no to Sunday, the only day they can get a slow start in this everyone-works-hard era.

They are saying no to being an audience in an age of participation and self-determination.

They are saying no to institutional preaching, repetitive liturgies and assemblies controlled by small cadres usually older than themselves.

They are saying no to being told what to believe.

They are saying no to having their questions ignored.

Instead, they find spiritual enrichment on the Internet and on television. They read faith-related books. They pray on their own. They find their own networks of faithful friends.

The problem isn’t their faith. The problem is Christianity’s delivery system. We are stuck in trying to lure people to physical locations at a time of our choosing, to do what we think they ought to do, and to be loyal in paying for it. It is time we looked beyond the paradigm of Sunday church.

I think the future lies in “multichanneling”: a combination of on-site, online, workplace and at-home offerings that create networks of self-determining constituents, many of whom might never attend Sunday church.

The first challenge, however, is to recognize how deeply wedded we are to Sunday, on-site participation as the only true expression and measure of faithfulness. Almost everything about our institutions — facilities, ordination training, staffing, budgeting — aims to draw people to a central location on Sunday.

We need to see that what works for some doesn’t work for others. Not because the others are flawed, nor because our culture has collapsed and turned against God, but because things change. Just as Jesus took his ministry out of the synagogue and radically rethought the meaning of Sabbath, so God is drawing us away from “former things,” even ones we treasure and consider our duty.

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I think Tom offers an accurate analysis and I think that the root of the problem is that many church-goers believe the ORIGIN of the institutional 'church' as we know it today was created and ordained by God Himself. The system - the once-a-week service - the offering plate - the paid staff - the choir - the CEO Pastor - is NOT a system that God created and put in place.

Many see the current system as in need of an overhaul--needing to be 'tweaked'. What we fail to see is that it's not what Jesus had in mind when He established the Church (literally, 'The Called-out Ones'). When people believe that the system came from God, they usually can't make the separation between the "system of church" and the "body of Christ." They see the two as being the same.

They've grown up hearing the system calling itself 'the body' for so long, they just believe it without thinking. They believe that ALL fellowship is found only within the system. All Christian growth, all learning, all relationships, all knowledge, all communication with God, everything that is Christian and everyone who calls themselves Christian exist ONLY within the modern-day system. Stepping outside of that system is seen as spiritual suicide.

Perhaps the current system needs to collapse in order for the church to discover its intended identity and recapture its original mission. Or better said, as Christ-followers discover their intended identity and mission, the current system will continue to dwindle in size and influence. Stay tuned... more to come.

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God No Longer With Us

"and they shall call his name 'Emmanuel', which being interpreted is 'God with us'."
The incarnation--God breaking into history in human form--the 'miracle of Christmas' is that God is with us. Hold that thought.

Move forward 33 years to the night that Jesus was arrested, just hours before his crucifixion, he told his closest followers...

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many places to dwell (often incorrectly translated 'many mansions'); if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there (where God lives) to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
(Gotta love that Thomas guy, always questioning; always wanting proof or further explanation)

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him... Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father... Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.
On the day I return you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:1-20)

Jesus said that it would no longer just be about God being with us, but now God would be in us, and we would be in God. What would make this new relationship, this new level of intimacy, possible?

I've always been taught that Jesus' "going away" was his ascension into heaven (43 days after his death and 40 days after his resurrection), and his "coming back" will be his second coming (2,000+ years and still waiting).

That last night with his disciples Jesus had been telling them he was going away as a reference of his death. He was saying, "in my going away (death) I will prepare a place for you, and I'm coming back (resurrection) so you can make your home in God and God will make his home in you."

Because of the death and resurrection, it's no longer just "God with us", but God IN us. Jesus' death and resurrection makes it possible for us to live in God and God to live in us.

God is not a person, but a spirit. Although a spirit, God does have a distinct personality. He is real, and we can know him, and be known by him... that is the best life... not reserved for the hereafter, but can be experienced in the here and now.

Leaving Empty Religion

As Jesus was in the Temple, in what turned out to be just a few days before his death, he said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." (Matthew 23:37)

But look at what he said next...

^"Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Then Jesus left the temple… (Matthew 23:38-24:1)

He had just finished saying that the religious order at that time was not a safe place for prophets because the people didn’t want to hear God’s voice, especially if it was a rebuking voice. God longed to engage them with a mother-like love, but they rejected Him.

He was finished working through the religious system and basically said they could have their temple or “house”. They’d rejected God’s spokesmen. For three years—at least once a year—he’d tried to speak like a prophet into the mess and they’d rejected God and His Son, it was full of corruption and HE WAS OUT OF THERE.

"I’m leaving it to you desolate"—("I'm no longer having anything to do with it and in a few years it will be destroyed."). Why would he do that? Dead religion, using religion to rip people off financially ("a den of thieves" to be exact), no longer a house of prayer, and no longer for all the nations (races). Instead of helping people connect with God the religious institution was actually getting in the way of people knowing God.

"So Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." (Matt 24:1)

Notice the progression: from "temple", to "buildings", to "things", to "stones".

From the house of God to a pile of rocks.

This was "the temple of the living God" and Jesus walked out. All their lives the temple has been the center of the disciples' faith and religious expression, now it was being rejected by the One who said, "If you've seen me, you have seen the Father."

Now let’s bring the story into present tense: we’re in the group of disciples and Jesus tells us our ‘church’ is corrupt, out of date, not doing the job it was created to do. “I’m out of here! I’m no longer going to connect with this place!” The Hebrew Scriptures have a word for it: "Ichabod": “The glory has departed”.

"Church" is not a building, a business, a religious system, an institution or an organization—a church is people who have heard the call of Jesus and are following Him at all costs.

"Church" is a living thing, and it's only alive and life-giving as long as it is doing the right things. When it stops doing the right things…Jesus is OUT OF THERE!!! Churches can be busy and active, but worthless, just a pile of stones. A church can die…or lose its way.

Misuse of money, failure of leaders, conflict over petty issues. When "the faithful" are more concerned with winning political power over "outsiders"--the people whom they were simply called to love-- than they are with serving people in Jesus' name, then the church has gotten off course.

Does God still depart from outdated religious systems? Was God ever part of the religious system to begin with? It's not about religion, it's about relationship. Religion always gets in the way of relationship.

"And this is the real and eternal life: That they know you, The one and only true God, And Jesus Christ, whom you sent". (John 17:3)

"But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24)

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'"(Acts 17:24-28)

God's Intent

God is not an angry Judge, just waiting for the chance--for an excuse, or reason--to punish people.

In spite of a track record of rebellion, defiance and independence on humanity's part; God is patient and merciful:

Yesterday, Christians around the world celebrated Palm Sunday, commemorating the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, just days prior to his crucifixion.

"When Jesus came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem, the whole crowd of disciples began to wave palm branches and throw their cloaks in the roadway, and joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

"Hosanna! Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, Jesus wept over it and said, "If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace...

I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town...

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." (Luke 19; Matthew 23)

I love the picture of God as a mother hen gathering her chicks. When would a hen do that? I didn't grow up on a farm, but my mother did. She tells me that a hen would do that when there is danger--a fire, a storm, a predator--she will give her own life to protect her chicks.

I heard the story of a farmer whose barn burned down. The next day as he surveyed the damage he notice a charred clump of something on the ground. Unsure what it was, he kicked it, surprised when it toppled over a several chicks scurried from underneath.

It is not God's intent to destroy but to rescue. What happens to chicks who refuse to be gathered under the mother hen's wings? What becomes of people who refuse God's care?

God has intention, a will. He gave you one, too; and never violates yours in the process of exercising his own.

Spiritual Waterboarding

Last week I was with a group of people when a conversation about religion broke out. A couple who were present jumped into the deep end. It became apparent rather quickly that the Christian woman had been trying to convert the wayward man for some time. They had had this conversation before.

She was deathly serious about the whole topic; he was amused by her and trying to be amusing in his responses.

I guess she thought now would be an opportune time to mount another offensive (pun intended) since she had the "preacher" with her to help double-team the poor guy. Not that he was at a disadvantage--with a very sharp intellect, as well as a sharp wit, he quite enjoyed sparring with her although he had no interest in "buying into" her belief system.

I'm sure I frustrated her because I didn't play along. Part of me was sympathetic to the plight she had brought upon herself and thought of coming her rescue. But I didn't "have a dog in that fight" and personally disagreed with much of what she was saying. I just didn't want to get into it.

Why not? He wasn't interested. He wasn't curious or seeking. It was her issue, not his. I finally joined the conversation, but not as aggressively as she would have hoped. I had no interest in arguing with him, but was genuinely curious in what he believed.

A fellow sitting about 15 feet away had been eavesdropping on the conversation and came over to add his observations, giving the woman some much-appreciated back-up, I'm sure. About that time someone else got my attention and I excused myself.

Here was my take away from that encounter: We need to be careful not to force-feed someone when they're not hungry; or trying to get someone a drink of "living water" when they have not indicated they are thirsty.

I've seen some evangelism encounters that were the spiritual equivalent of the infamous "water-boarding" interrogation techniques, with the same desired outcome: "we're going to give them more than they can handle, or put the fear of death in them, until they tell us what we want to hear."

That may be a harsh description on my part, but I've seen some stuff over the years -- where innocent people were the victims of an evangelistic ambush-- some encounters that were just so disrespectful of the person being "witnessed" to and in the long-run did more harm than good for the cause of Christ.

Just love the person God has put in front of you at any given moment. His Spirit is at work doing whatever convicting and convincing He wants done at the time. Just love people, and always be ready to give a reason for the hope that lies within your own heart.

...Forgive Us Our Trespasses...

"You don't know what's in my storage space, you can't tell me what I need."

I overheard one end of the conversation between a Purchasing Agent for a large business and a supplier. The supplier, states away and looking at a computer monitor, was apparently trying to tell the purchaser what items the purchaser had "on hand". The purchaser, actually standing in the supply room and surveying its contents, was trying to set the supplier straight and acquire the items she needed.

"You don't know what's in my storage space, you can't tell me what I need."

Until we've been invited into someone's storage space -- that place where they keep the treasures, resources and even the broken things in their lives-- we need to be careful in telling the proprietor what they really need. We certainly don't need to barge into that place uninvited. It's called trespassing.

Some people affiliated with certain religious groups are notorious for forcing their way into people's storage spaces and telling them what they need.

It's not about trying to "sell" your beliefs to someone who's "not in the market"; or about trying to "win the case" by having an "airtight defense". It's not about winning an argument or proving that I'm right and they're wrong.

It's just about loving the person that God puts in front of you at any given moment. Then, if in the course of conversation, you're invited into their storage space-- if they trust you enough to reveal a need or point out something that's broken--then you can enter that sacred space; but even then you need to proceed gently and with incredible respect.