Foresights: looking forward to what lies ahead...

Christianity's Biggest Mistake

2011-07-14T14:05:00.000-04:00

I read this post from Chad Holtz at his site, "Dancing on Saturday"
Good insight.

Christianity’s Biggest Mistake

Jul 13, 2011 by Chad

It’s not our buddying up with empire under Constantine.

It’s not our acceptance of the myth of redemptive violence, launching the Crusades and countless other imperialistic wars of conquest.

It’s not our long history of patriarchy and subsequent subordination of women.

It’s not our silence during and even defense of slavery.

It’s not our split from Rome and the countless factions that now exist.

It’s not the millions upon millions of ethical blunders sinful men and women have made while representing Christ’s Church.

It’s not our constant and seemingly eternal infighting while orphans and widows around us starve and perish.

It’s not even Mark Driscoll.

Nope. It’s not any of that. Christianity’s biggest mistake can be summed up on a billboard I saw while driving to Nashville this week:

Our biggest mistake is turning the Kingdom of God which Jesus announced as here into one more tool to comfort us in the midst of our mortality. Our biggest mistake is turning the Gospel into knowledge that if possessed and accepted unlocks the holy grail of eternal life. We will live in mansions and walk streets of gold beside crystal seas, or, if you were born in another part of the world, wake up next to 70 virgins (let’s save the debate over whose heaven is better for another time, ok?)

Life is short, Eternity isn’t, isn’t the point! Implied in this message, which sums up the evangelical gospel of the last century, is that the most important thing to consider when making decisions in this fleeting appendage of a thing we call “life” is how will this or that impact my destination after death?

This is so contrary to the way of Jesus, who turns that question on it’s head and asks instead, “How will this decision affect the neighbor around me?”

Yet another dangerous implication in this biggest mistake of ours is that the justice of God is such that actions, good or bad, done in a “short” amount of time render an “eternal” consequence or reward. God, we are told, holds an infinite grudge.

Now, in seminary I read the many theologians who have an answer to this problem. Our sins are committed, they say, against a holy and infinite God and therefore require an infinite response if God’s sense of justice and honor are to be met. We, being human, could not and would never be able to satisfy that need of God (God is “needy”?) and so God sent God’s Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty we could and would not be able to pay. Because Christ was duly punished, tortured, and executd, God is “satisfied.” His anger towards us is softened, and now, we sinful humans can just hide behind Jesus’ blood and all will be well for us when we die. Those who do not hide behind Jesus, however, are subject to God’s wrath (which is eternal) and by default, subject to our (Christians) wrath, as well.

And since God still hates those who are not clothed in Christ, it is only natural that all the things I listed at the outset of this post happened, and continue to happen. We annoucne the Kingdom of God is at hand not by embracing everyone as already a beloved child of God – as our neighbor – but by shock and awe. We drop bombs of both word and steel under the guise of eternal significance. Something of such weighty importance (eternity) deserves and requires such weighty tactics.

I am more and more convinced as of late that our biggest mistake as Christians is that we have put so much weight on eternity that we miss the life in front of us. We are so heavenly minded, as the saying goes, that we are no earthly good.

Why do we do this? Why do we love to place so much emphasis on the wrath of God, which is, we claim, eternal? Why is God’s wrath forever but God’s love finite? Why does God stop loving us after this “short life” and cease to stop searching for and reconciling us?

What would the Body of Christ (the church) look like today if we embraced the good news that God loves us – ALL of us – and that eternity is in God’s hands, not ours? What if we trusted that God is good and so too, is life? What if we changed that billboard to read instead,

Life is short, live it. ~ God.

My Independence Day Lament

2010-07-04T16:26:00.004-04:00

I am a patriot. I love America. I pledge allegiance to one nation “under God”. I sing with gusto the Star Spangled Banner when it is played at ball games. The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. I am deeply concerned with political affairs and have great interest in what happens in our nation. I have nothing but the highest regard for our men and women in military service. I am very grateful to God for the privilege of being born and living in the United States.

My intent is not to brag, but to lay a foundation lest some readers think the remainder of this post is about bashing America. Please don’t misinterpret my comments to be anti-American. My concern is for the Church, for Christ followers. Specifically, that at times it seems we are prouder of being Americans than we are of being Christ followers.

Why is it that in our worship services songs that convey a deep spiritual meaning are hardly acknowledged by the worshippers, but songs that have a patriotic flavor can evoke a highly emotional--even wildly emotional-- response? Why is it that many “Christians” are more concerned with the advancement of the religious right than they are with Kingdom of God?

For me, our Sunday morning worship service is a public and collective expression of our love and devotion to our Heavenly Father. Picture this: A husband takes his wife out for a romantic anniversary dinner and spends nearly an hour telling her about another woman—how beautiful he thinks this woman is, how this woman inspires and encourages him, how grateful he is to this woman for the “blessings” she brings to his life. How do you think his wife would feel?

I imagine that’s how God feels when we gather to worship Him and then pledge our allegiance to something other than Him; when all the songs we sing are not to Him or about Him, but about how great our country is; and how mighty is our military strength, and how grateful we are to soldiers who sacrifice for our freedoms. I am not ungrateful for those things, I just don’t feel they have any place in a meeting dedicated to the worship of God.

“Christian Americanism”, that strange blend of worship and patriotism is very troublesome to me. On days like today—Sunday’s that are close to Memorial Day, Independence Day or Veteran’s Day-- all too often I see an unbalanced mixture of nationalism and religion; perhaps to the point of idolatry.

It is appropriate that we show gratitude to God for the blessings of liberty. It is important, I feel, to endeavor to place biblical morality as the guiding principles of our society in many cases. It is even good to exercise our rights of citizenship in such a way that it reflects our faith. But for those of us who follow Jesus I hope we never forget that we are Christ-followers first, and Americans second; but it often feels the other way around, especially on days like today.

Worse Than I Thought

2010-01-27T10:43:00.000-05:00

The sore throat I've had since Monday morning... which I thought was the result of screaming too much on behalf of the Saints the night before... is actually acute bronchitis on the verge of pneumonia... glad I didn't wait another day to start antibiotics :0

The Spirit of God Dances...

2009-10-15T14:29:00.004-04:00

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.

Lights Out

2009-10-14T13:52:00.009-04:00

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.

Take Heed

2009-07-25T10:55:00.001-04:00

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."

answered prayers

2009-07-23T12:32:00.002-04:00

"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

God always protects?

2009-07-12T12:52:00.000-04:00

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 the infamous water-boarding, exposure (to light, heat, cold, noise, etc.,) is an effective torture technique. Love doesn't expose.Love does not humiliate or embarrass.

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.

Painful Faith

2009-07-01T06:39:00.002-04:00

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.

Making God's Day

2009-06-23T09:12:00.003-04:00

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.

Rendering Sin Powerless

2009-06-19T08:42:00.001-04:00

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.

As we live each day with Him, God untwists what sin has twisted in us and in the process sets us free from the power of sin in our lives--rendering sin powerless. God does not want to punish you for your sins (that was taken care of on the cross), He wants to cure you from sin and its negative effects in your life.

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.

God Keeps No Record of Wrongs

2009-06-17T12:29:00.007-04:00

God is love. Love keeps no record of wrongs. This unique kind of love is unconditional and transformational.

"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more..." (Isaiah 43:25)

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? Keeping a record of wrongs kills relationship. In most divorces one of both parties kept meticulous record of the other person’s faults.

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.

Sensitive God

2009-06-09T10:12:00.004-04:00

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.

Wonderful Weekend

2009-06-01T14:21:00.010-04:00

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. The hero of our story had a painful past himself; he and his wife going separate ways after the death of a child.

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..."

No More Tears

2009-05-26T10:39:00.000-04:00

"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.

Disarming Agitators

2009-05-22T11:56:00.001-04:00

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.

Living in the Light

2009-05-21T13:03:00.002-04:00

"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)

Love is Not Proud

2009-05-20T05:05:00.002-04:00

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.

Love Lived Out

2009-05-19T07:06:00.000-04:00

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.

First Love

2009-05-15T05:21:00.001-04:00

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)

Incomparable Worth

2009-05-13T20:55:00.003-04:00

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?

Ruby (for Mother's Day)

2009-05-10T07:32:00.004-04:00

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.)

Paternity Testing

2009-05-08T05:21:00.002-04:00

I am still amazed at how some Christians want to qualify the fact that God is love. That old "Yes, bu t..." 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.

God's Favor

2009-05-07T05:10:00.002-04:00

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...

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.

That's All He's Got

2009-05-05T22:00:00.006-04:00

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!

Love Does Not Envy

2009-05-03T21:09:00.003-04:00

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.”

God never envies for Himself, or is jealous for Himself, God is not selfish.

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.

God Always Protects

2009-05-01T05:21:00.002-04:00

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.

Perfect Love

2009-04-30T05:09:00.000-04:00

"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

2009-04-28T16:21:00.005-04:00

Nip it in the Bud

2009-04-28T13:25:00.008-04:00

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

2009-04-28T09:45:00.003-04:00

"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

2009-04-27T04:59:00.002-04:00

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

2009-04-26T06:47:00.000-04:00

But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness(Psalms 86:15)

---------------------------

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

2009-04-24T05:17:00.002-04:00

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

2009-04-23T05:30:00.009-04:00

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?

2009-04-22T05:35:00.004-04:00

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."

-----------------------------------------------
(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.

Heaven's Trinkets

2009-04-21T05:18:00.004-04:00

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)

--------------------------------------------
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

2009-04-20T16:56:00.003-04:00

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...

2009-04-20T16:23:00.002-04:00

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

2009-04-20T05:02:00.007-04:00

“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?

2009-04-19T05:26:00.001-04:00

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...

2009-04-18T05:08:00.001-04:00

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

2009-04-17T05:04:00.006-04:00

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

2009-04-16T17:28:00.001-04:00

State of the Church

2009-04-16T05:33:00.006-04:00

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

2009-04-15T05:41:00.004-04:00

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

2009-04-14T05:34:00.001-04:00

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

2009-04-13T04:45:00.001-04:00

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

2009-04-12T04:47:00.002-04:00

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"

2009-04-11T05:52:00.007-04:00

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

2009-04-10T04:45:00.001-04:00

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.

---------------------------------------

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.

God No Longer With Us

2009-04-09T05:17:00.002-04:00

"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

2009-04-07T08:18:00.005-04:00

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

2009-04-06T05:02:00.004-04:00

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

2009-04-05T06:25:00.002-04:00

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...

2009-04-04T13:34:00.001-04:00

"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.

If You Are...

2009-04-03T05:00:00.001-04:00

"If you are... the Son of God... then prove it: by turning these stones to bread or by jumping off the highest point of the temple and letting your angels catch you." That was the tempter's taunting when Jesus fasted in the wilderness just prior to beginning his public ministry. (Matthew 4)

"If you are... the Messiah, the Son of God..., then tell us!" That was the demand of the high priest before whom Jesus stood trial. (Matthew 26)

"If you are... the Son of God... then come down from the cross!" They chided him, casting insults at him, as he was suspended, humiliated and naked, between two common thieves. (Matthew 27)

"If you are... able... then help us." This was the plea of an anguished father whose mute, convulsive demon-possessed son once again fell victim to the spirits that tortured him. (Mark 9)

People were always demanding that Jesus prove it, tell them, help them... if he was who he claimed to be. Things are not much different today.

Jesus always did. He proved who he was...

sometimes by giving people exactly that for which they asked: plainly answering their questions, provoking even more hatred... healing the one imprisoned in misery...

At other times he did not give what was demanded, but the answer he gave spoke in even more astounding power about his true identity. He answered the tempter, not by giving in to his demands, but by resisting him... he answered his executioners, not by removing himself from the cross, but by rising from the dead!!

If you are...???

Since you are... more than able... The Messiah... the Son of God...

I will trust you...

I will serve you...

I will love you...

A Peace That Comes from Knowing

2009-04-02T07:12:00.002-04:00

Last weekend a friend of mine posted a beautiful entry on his blog. In the post he briefly describes his often tumultuous journey to discover God during his nearly 35 year trek on this planet, and how he recently came to a new understanding--experience-- of who God really is. To God he writes...

"Something changed inside me a few days ago when I realized not only that you were there, but I understood for the first time what it feels like to know that I am loved unconditionally. To recognize that you not only love, but that you are love was a powerful discovery. I can feel a wave of peace flow through me just by thinking about it. Peace that comes from knowing I don’t have to question your existence anymore. Peace that comes from knowing you’ll always be there when I need you."

There was one line in his post that I can't get out of my head. He mentioned "peace that comes from knowing". Yes! I love that. The Bible tells us that the peace God offers is not like the peace the world offers; that His peace is beyond our understanding.

We can experience it, although we cannot explain it. When you encounter this God... when you know he is real... when you know his peace... everything changes.

It can't be explained, doesn't need to be defended or debated... you just know that you know that he's real. And there is a peace that comes from knowing. Things settle down. The internal wrestling match subsides. Peace.

I love the scene in the movie Forest Gump where Captain Dan, furious with God for the loss of both legs during the Vietnam war, is riding out a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico strapped atop the mast of a shrimp boat, cursing God and flipping Him off while being pummeled and stung by 120 mph winds and salt-water.

In the next scene the skies are clear and blue, the sea is smooth as glass, and Captain Dan is going for a swim. Peace. The struggle is over. The internal war resolved. I know many Christians who were offended by that scene. I love it. Been there... on both sides of that war.

There is a peace that comes from knowing God. It guards my heart and mind--my emotions and my thoughts. Resting in the experiential knowledge of who He is... there is life there. And joy. And peace.

Hearing Voices

2009-04-01T05:40:00.000-04:00

People may think you're weird if you were to say, "I talk to God."

Some people would think you're certifiably insane if you were to say, "God talks to me."

Yet, hearing His voice is normal for the believer. Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice."
Is it an audible voice? His Spirit speaks to my spirit.

Dan Rather once asked Mother Teresa, "Do you talk to God?"

"Yes", she replied.

"What do you say in your conversations with God?"

"I mostly listen", was her reply.

"What does God say to you, then?"

"He mostly listens, too."

I like that. I get it. My wife and I often communicate with each other without either one of us saying a word. People in close relationships--good friends--find that rather easy to do.

That's the kind of relationship God wants with each one of His children.

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."

The Futility of Religion

2009-03-31T06:21:00.005-04:00

I'm no fan of religion. Any religion--just doesn't work. It doesn't provide what's promoted. Religion is based on having a god that needs to be appeased... either in an effort to gain his/her/its favor and remain in good standing with said deity, or in an effort to avoid his/her/its wrath.

Many religious people believe God is ticked off, at a distance, and separated because of their inability to perform adequately enough to keep his affection. That is not true. It is a lie. God says, "I will never leave you or forsake you. I love you. There is not condemnation for those who are in Christ." That is the truth.

There is something much better than religion--a real and living relationship, even friendship, with the real and living God. That's exactly what Saul (later known as the Apostle Paul) discovered, as recorded in the New Testament:

"My dear brothers and fathers, listen carefully to what I have to say before you jump to conclusions about me." When they heard him speaking Hebrew, they grew even quieter. No one wanted to miss a word of this.

He continued, "I am a good Jew, born in Tarsus in the province of Cilicia, but educated here in Jerusalem under the exacting eye of Rabbi Gamaliel, thoroughly instructed in our religious traditions. And I've always been passionately on God's side, just as you are right now.

"I went after anyone connected with this 'Way,' went at them hammer and tongs, ready to kill for God. I rounded up men and women right and left and had them thrown in prison. You can ask the Chief Priest or anyone in the High Council to verify this; they all knew me well. Then I went off to our brothers in Damascus, armed with official documents authorizing me to hunt down the Christians there, arrest them, and bring them back to Jerusalem for sentencing.

"As I arrived on the outskirts of Damascus about noon, a blinding light blazed out of the skies and I fell to the ground, dazed. I heard a voice: 'Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?'
" 'Who are you, Master?' I asked.

"He said, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, the One you're hunting down.' My companions saw the light, but they didn't hear the conversation.

"Then I said, 'What do I do now, Master?'

"He said, 'Get to your feet and enter Damascus. There you'll be told everything that's been set out for you to do.' And so we entered Damascus, but nothing like the entrance I had planned— I was blind as a bat and my companions had to lead me in by the hand.

"And that's when I met Ananias, a man with a sterling reputation in observing our laws— the Jewish community in Damascus is unanimous on that score. He came and put his arm on my shoulder. 'Look up,' he said. I looked, and found myself looking right into his eyes— I could see again! (Acts 22:1-13, The Message)

Later, when Paul wrote about the difference between religion and a real relationship with the living God, here is what he had to say:

"We Jews know that we have no advantage of birth over "non-Jewish sinners." We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it— and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good.

Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren't perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was "trying to be good," I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan.

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that." (Galatians 2:15-21, The Message)

Screamin' Preachers

2009-03-30T05:24:00.000-04:00

I don't get it. I don't understand why some people like screaming preachers. I suspect they see it as an indication of passion. I don't get it.

I've known my wife for over twenty-seven years and we've been married for over twenty-four of those years. I have deep passion for her, but I don't scream at her... or about her.

I'm also passionate about some sports teams and sporting events, but would never relegate a relationship with God to something as trivial as those things.

So when it comes to preachers, unlike any other form of public speaking, why is volume seen as a sign of deeper sincerity and commitment? Volume does not equal passion... or integrity... or proximity to the Almighty.

I love God with all my heart, but I don't have to yell at you to convince you of his reality or worth. As I see it, I'm not angry... nothing is on fire... I'm not trying to sell you a used car; I really see no reason to scream.

Eternal Life

2009-03-29T06:25:00.000-04:00

As Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane just hours prior to his execution, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do."
(John 17:1-4)

Jesus defines eternal life not as living in "heaven" forever after one dies (streets of gold, halos and harps, wings and clouds), as is often proclaimed. Jesus defines eternal life as knowing Him and God (intimate relationship) right here, right now.

It's not about length of life, but depth of life; not about quantity, but quality.

Role Reversal

2009-03-28T11:23:00.001-04:00

Much of the tension in our culture today is because the Church has forgotten its role. Evangelical Christians in particular get blasted for being condemning, judgmental and unloving.

It is the job of God's Holy Spirit to convict of sin. Jesus said, "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. (John 16:7-11)

I don't understand all that that means, but I do get this: It's not my job to convict people of sin. It is my job to love what God loves, and it is His job to convict of sin.

The Church as some point got that twisted; believing it's God's job to love (which He does) and our job to convict people of sin (which it is not). I believe this ungodly role reversal is the cause of so much animosity in our society.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) God loves people and true Christ followers love what God loves.

Some critics may be quick to point to scripture like "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15), but that is not talking about people, but rather the value systems of the world that are contrary to God's value system.

I like the way The Message interprets that passage: "Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father."

If followers of Jesus will simply love the world--simply love the person in front of us at any given moment--and let the Holy Spirit convict the world, we will get a different reaction and see a different response from people. It's time for the Church to do another role reversal.

Searching for God

2009-03-27T11:06:00.004-04:00

cartoon idea from "Bob", a listener to The God Journey:

panel 1: There is a very tall ladder reaching into and past the clouds, one guy's a few feet up the ladder, another guy is holding the ladder so he won't fall.

Panel 2: A crowd begins to gather and they watch the man climb up higher and higher. A person in the crowd asks the guy holding the ladder, "What is he doing?". The guy answers, "He's trying to get closer to God."

Panel 3: Someone in the crowd shouts out to the guy holding the ladder, "So, who are you?". The guy smiles and answers, "God."
-----------------------
How futile our efforts are. "I'm going to get closer to God..." and God's saying, "Okay, I'll be here when you're done with this. I'll be right here."

God has a long-suffering heart towards us, not excusing a single thing, and not surprised by all the things we try to do to get close to him on our own. He's holding the ladder, "I'm not going to let you fall, but if you've got to go there to find out I'm not there go ahead, that just shortens the time we can actually be friends."

He was there all the time, patiently waiting. Silence is not the same as distance.

Quote of the Day

2009-03-26T16:27:00.001-04:00

"I love toe socks... they make great gloves! They fit my fingers and keep my arms warm."
~ Kim Thompson

Belonging to Jesus

2009-03-26T09:33:00.002-04:00

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."
(words of Jesus of Nazareth, recorded in John 10:27-30)

Listening to Jesus' voice; being known by Him and following Him. Enjoying this relationship that truly is life... and life-giving. Being secure in Father. That's what God wants for all of His children.

Relationship Is Everything

2009-03-25T05:31:00.000-04:00

I've always been more task-oriented than people-oriented. In fact, people have often gotten in the way of me completing the task at hand. In spite of being married nearly 25 years, the truth is I've never been very good at relationships. Until last weekend I had not seen my brother and sister and their families in seven years.

God is all about relationships. When everything is said and done the only thing that really lasts is relationships. Heaven will be about relationship--face to face with God.

The Apostle John, exiled on the isle of Patmos was separated by the sea from everything and everyone he held dear. In the final chapters of the Book of Revelation he sees heaven as relationship restored, separation annihilated:

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will their God and they will be my sons and daughters."
(Revelation 21:1-7)

It's not about doing more, trying harder, working longer and being more obedient. It's about learning to relate to the living God and people whom He created and loves.

Jesus said, "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) Heaven is not reserved for the hereafter, it can begin in the here and now. Relationship is everything.

Obedience ISN'T Everything

2009-03-24T05:47:00.000-04:00

For years I've said that if I condensed my relationship with God down to a bumper sticker it would read: "Obedience is Everything". Jesus said, "If you love me, you'll obey my commands." Each action a test of love; every lapse of obedience was spiritual infidelity, demonstration of a lack of love on my part. Obedience is everything.

No it isn't. That's not relationship. Taking on the Avis motto, "We Try Harder", thinking it would get me where I wanted to be, but it just doesn't work. Do more. Try harder. Work longer.

Yet one can still come up feeling like God is distant, wondering if He really exists. Striving, yet never connecting. Futility.

But what if Jesus wasn't giving us a requirement--a prerequisite-- but rather a promise? If you love me, live in relationship with me, abide with me, then I promise that obedience will be the mark of your life.

It's not about obeying in order to earn his love, or even prove your love for God. It's about wanting to obey because I know how much I am loved. Obedience isn't everything. Love is everything.

Many people strive to keep the Law (obey) in order to win God's favor and we never can do it--every one of us falls short. God says if you'll live in my love, you'll be able to do what you strove to do but were unable to do. Sweet spot.

Nail Lightly

2009-03-23T06:20:00.001-04:00

I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Alabama, and as an adult lived in New Orleans and along the Mississippi coast. I know a little bit about hurricanes... and roofing, the two going together hand in (work) glove. I also lived in "Tornado Alley" in Arkansas. All this to say two things: I am a proud son of the South, and I know the value of having things nailed down tightly.

But there is also a danger of having things nailed down too tightly. Attitudes, beliefs, opinions... sometimes folks can have their thinking nailed down so tightly that one is unable to change their thinking even in light of compelling evidence. This malady can effect liberals and conservatives, atheists and religious zealots.

With certitude and arrogance, like those preachers of old profusely proclaiming that "if God had intended for man to fly he would have given them wings like the angels", all the while the boys are out in the field building an airplane.

Point: while it is important to have beliefs, and to believe the right things-- the truth-- stay open to changing your beliefs... or rather to God showing up in ways that don't fit your preconceived ideas and making you rethink everything. The more tightly erroneous beliefs are nailed down, the more painful it is when Reality pries them up.

Final thought: Truth is a person, and his name is Jesus.

Driven No More

2009-03-21T18:47:00.000-04:00

I've wasted too much time being driven... by guilt, by purpose, by self-preservation.
God doesn't want us driven by any of these things (sorry Rick) or anything else. He wants us to be led. And He wants to be the One doing the leading.

You drive cattle. You lead sheep. To not be driven by the expectations of God or man, but simply following the Living God... there's freedom in that... and adventure... and peace.

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."
(Jesus of Nazareth, quoted in the Gospel of John, 10:27-30)

Nude Photo Shoot

2009-03-20T18:13:00.003-04:00

No pictures on this post. Be grateful. I went to the skin doc today. I've got ivory skin/red hair and an ideal candidate for skin cancer. Several suspicious moles have been removed over the past few months. So today we did "body mapping", head-to-toe photos of every inch of skin. A point of comparison for future checkups to see if any spots change color and/or shape, or if any new growths appear.

I always thought I'd be embarrassed to pose nude, but nah. Not that I'm looking to make a career shift in that direction. It was easy knowing the doc wasn't there to make me feel guilty for being out of shape, wasn't there to scold me for not wearing sunscreen with a higher SPF, wasn't there to compare me to the models and celebrities whose pictures filled the magazines in his waiting room.

He was there to help me. If he found anything that would endanger me he was ready to remove it and make things right. I've come to see God and judgment in a similar light. God is not looking to condemn me for imperfections; or scold me for being "less than" and for not measuring up.

God wants to examine me in order to help me... in order to right whatever may endanger me. So there is no fear, and there is no shame, no hesitancy in stepping into the light of God's judging gaze.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me along the path of everlasting life."
(Psalm 139:23-24)

Love and Fear

2009-03-20T08:08:00.002-04:00

Religion needs an angry god, and fear of his retribution, in order to survive. Religion is based on doing good and avoiding bad, however those are defined by said religion, in order to incur the god's blessing and avoid his/her/its wrath. Without fear religion doesn't work.

Jesus never came to establish a religion. He came to make it possible for us to have a real and living relationship with the real and living God. Fear can motivate me to behave... for awhile. Fear controls the mind. Love wins the heart. It changes the motivation--the want-to.

God doesn't use fear to accomplish anything. Fear always motivates people toward self-preservation, never into real relationship. God wants a real relationship with you.

Religion believes that it takes fearing for our own our necks to get us to "act right". It's not out of some high calling to serve our fellow man, but out of a much lower desperation to save our own hides. In terms of my relationship with God, love has done for me what fear never did.

God doesn't use fear, guilt and shame to leverage us into a relationship. Real relationship is based on love, not fear. "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."(1 John 4:18)

A writer on another blog recently wrote: "Largely we've been sold a bill of goods in the past 25 years by evangelical leaders who have mistakenly taught us that Christianity is about protecting a way of life—a Christian nation, a civil/social morality. For many years now, Christians have been drawing lines, putting sinners on one side and themselves on the other, and saying, 'Be afraid of those people over there. They are out to get you. They will ruin your country, your lifestyle, your government… you name it.'

"What is tragic about this is how it reduces Christianity to politics, economics, social and lifestyle issues, and everything outside of this is threatening to those who believe this way. Those affected by this thinking end up too afraid to love, they are so threatened by the world around them. They define their Christian lives around the framework they've built to protect them from the pains, sorrows, and realities of real life. They have no idea how real grace can work in their lives."

It really comes down to a choice between love and fear. And I think sometimes we actually prefer fear. Fear means we don't have to be responsible. We are victims and there are people to blame for our predicament. But love means I walk with God into whatever is producing the fear and work it out. Love is taking responsibility instead of blaming. Love is almost always about being vulnerable... love is risky.

God does not use fear to motivate His children. He loves His children and moves them through love to action. Jesus and fear cannot occupy the same throne.

Rethinking Divine Wrath

2009-03-19T06:13:00.002-04:00

I've spent my whole life thinking God was angry at me and that I had to perform well in order to stay in His good graces. I knew I was forgiven, was in relationship with Him, and knew God loved me. But, honestly, that love has always felt conditional.

Deep down I really believe God loved me as long as... as long as I was faithful, as long as I did good, as long as I didn't sin... the list felt endless at times. I always felt afraid of God, and thought that's the way He wanted it to be.

I love the story that Wayne Jacobsen tells to illustrate the wrath of God. Wayne, his wife Sarah, and then two-year-old son were camping in the mountains some years ago, a couple of hours from any medical assistance. He and Sarah heard blood-curdling screaming and looked up to find their son in the midst of a swarm of angry bees. Maternal instincts fully charged, Sarah led the foot race to rescue the boy.

The problem is that she was deathly allergic to bee stings. With no thought to her own well-being she swooped in to get her boy out of harm's way, incurring numerous stings in the process. And what do you think the youngster saw on his mother's face as she raced toward him? Fury.

But it wasn't directed at him. Here's the paradigm-shifting definition of God's wrath for me: "God bringing the full weight of His being against that which seeks to destroy the object of His affection."

You are the object of God's affection. Repeat slowly, "I am the object of God's affection." What looks like anger is not intended for you; it's aimed at sin, and guilt and shame--those things that twist and distort you into being less that God created you to be.

It is so liberating to know God is not angry at me when I fail, even when I sin. He knew I would do "it" before I chose to do it. And my doing it doesn't stop Him from loving me.

I've always been taught that the cross was about God punishing His son for my sin in order to satisfy His need for justice. God is not into child sacrifice, even when it's His child -- he's not like the other "gods" mentioned in the Old Testament (see Molech, Ba'al).

The cross was not about God satisfying His need as His son's expense. That would be like God saying to you, "I really want to be your friend, but first I need to go home and beat the daylights out of my kid for everything you've ever done to offend me, then you and I can be friends." If your neighbor made you that offer you'd think he was sick, and you'd be right; but that's what has been taught about God in many religious circles.

The cross was not about God satisfying some sick need at His son's expense, but about satisfying my need at His own expense. The cross was not so much about the punishment for my sin, it was about the cure of my sin... and my shame... and my guilt. God brought the full weight of His being against that which would destroy me, the object of His affection. He did that to remove all the obstacles so that I could have LIFE, a relationship with Him.

So I don't have to be afraid of God anymore. I can trust His love for me, come out of hiding, bring all my crap to Him so He can heal me. "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18)

God says, "I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me, for I have redeemed you."(Isaiah 44:22) It's safe to come out of hiding and approach God. He is not angry at you for any wrong-doing. He doesn't want to punish you, He wants to heal you.

Back from LA

2009-03-18T06:25:00.007-04:00

That's not Los Angeles, but the postal abbreviation for Louisiana. My son and I flew down last Friday for a family wedding on Saturday and then returned Monday night. My daughter had flown out Thursday and was one of the bridesmaids.

The wedding was beautiful. My older brother's oldest child, his only daughter, was radiant. I was so proud of my brother--he's the man!

It was bittersweet--first time I've been back in 25 years (much baggage, I'll explain in a later post). Saw the old house where I lived from ages 13 to 20. Sad how things change over time.

Got me some Johnny's Pizza. The best pizza in the world is found only in Northern Louisiana. Love their "Sweep the Kitchen", includes everything but the sink. And gorged on the "Sweep the Swamp"--crab, shrimp, crawfish, andouille sausage, bell peppers... ah-yee!, man that's good eatin'!!

First time I'd seen my brother and sister and their families in seven years--since Dad's funeral back in 2002. It was a great trip... just way too short.

Seeing God in a Whole New Light

2009-03-17T21:16:00.004-04:00

It's been quite a time, these past 40 days or so.... hmmmm. During that time this blog has been un-touched and I've been re-thinking so much of what I've believed and taught all of my adult life. It has been difficult to put into words at times, but one phrase that keeps popping up is "I feel like I've been lied to for 47 years."

Two big influencers of my thinking lately have been Brad Cummings and Wayne Jacobsen over at The God Journey. Wayne's site at Lifestream, especially his Transition teachings, have had a huge impact on my thinking.

Honestly, I've spent my whole life thinking God was angry at me and that I had to perform well in order to stay in His good graces. I knew I was forgiven, was in relationship with Him, and knew God loved me. But, honestly, that love has always felt conditional. God loved me as long as... as long as I was faithful, as long as I did good, as long as I didn't sin... the list felt endless at times. I was afraid of God, and felt like that's the way He wanted it.

It is true that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom", but it's the beginning of wisdom. "If you don't love God you should fear Him... it will keep you out of trouble. But once you know how much He loves you, you never need fear Him again."

I've come to love this passage of Holy Scripture (1 John 4:18): "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

Who Moved?

2009-03-17T16:16:00.004-04:00

I was walking through a classroom the other day and noticed a sign that really annoyed me. Beautifully framed, and written in swirling calligraphy was the message, "If you don't feel close to God guess who moved?"

It annoyed me because the message behind the message was "shame on you!". The implication is that God would never move because "He's the same yesterday, today and forever". Artistically scripted was the accusatory message that if the reader didn't feel close to God it was their own fault.

You know what's wrong with religion? Everything. Religion is about appeasing whatever god is being worshiped; jumping through hoops to stay on the deity's good side, and avoiding imperfection so as not to incur his/her/its wrath. What a horrible way to live.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in The One True God, the God Jesus called "Father". But He is not about religion. Religion always gets in the way of relationship. Religion says we must perform well in order to stay in His good graces. He says, "Because of my good graces you can come to me just as you are and I will heal you and make you whole."

God is not angry at you. He is near, and He wants a relationship with you. If you don't feel close to God it doesn't mean anybody moved. Don't mistake silence for distance. He promised to never abandon His children. He is near you right now. He cares for you and He's listening.

I Found It!

2009-02-05T17:38:00.002-05:00

Many will be delighted to know that I finally found Jesus (in the King Cake). Yeah, I know, it's about time!

Pop the Pinata

2009-02-04T17:34:00.000-05:00

Helping the man-child with a piñata project for his Spanish class. Messy fun. I've never done paper-mâché. A new first.

We Are Free Men

2009-01-31T17:47:00.003-05:00

Just finished a weekend planning retreat at a local monastery with a few close friends to give some direction to our Men's group. Here's our vision:

We are men sharing our lives and journeys together as we pursue a deeper relationship with Father (God)...

By experiencing ongoing personal transformation and leading others to discover and enjoy freedom in Christ;

By creating a safe place for men of every generation, culture and race to honestly confront the struggles of manhood;

and by providing opportunities through fellowship, recreation and service to connect with, and encourage one another.

We Are Free Men.

King Cake

2009-01-31T17:27:00.005-05:00

My wife hails from Louisiana. Some friends here in Virginia who are also from Louisiana gifted us with a King Cake earlier this week.

According to the box... "The King Cake has been associated with the Mardi Gras season for many years. The season begins on January 6th, known as the Epiphany, the day the three Wise Men of the East, Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, found the baby Jesus."

(Okay, there is so much wrong with this story. the fact that three gifts were mentioned doesn't mean there were three kings. The weren't "kings" but Magi, astrologers. Their names are not given in the Bible, but handed down as tradition and are probably fictitious. Jesus was no longer an infant, but rather a toddler by the time the Magi arrived. Okay, now that I got that off my chest, back to the King Cake.)

"The King Cake reminds us of this day by its shape, color and decoration. Its oval shape represents the unity of all Christians. (okay, we can pretend) The colors purple, gold and green stand for justice, power and faith, respectively.

A small baby doll, bean or coin is hidden inside the cake to symbolize the finding of the baby Jesus. whoever finds this symbol in their slice of cake traditionally buys the King Cake for the next celebration."

We're down to the last two slices and still no baby.

Feeling Froggy

2009-01-30T06:14:00.001-05:00

My son has been dissecting earthworms and frogs in his biology class this week. I'm feeling froggy--dissected and laid bare, lately. I've been on a journey of discovering, exposing and healing some not-so-pretty attitudes, habits, assumptions, misconceptions about God and old wounds. The process is neither pretty nor painless.

Along the way have been some amazing encounters with God and discovering who God really is...what He's like... His heart. God is just so good, He really is! He is just so good. Father has been using friends, books, and prayer to stir up so much stuff, so many memories – oh, God, I am such a mess. I have so much "stuff" that I didn't even realize was there. Oh, God, help me!

I had no idea I had so much crap buried in my heart. I want to go deep, but I know it's going to cost me. I know God is real and I just want to know Him so badly. And I want all that He wants for me.

Ministry Opportunities

2009-01-28T09:37:00.007-05:00

I've had some interesting meetings during the past couple of weeks. Some good opportunities to meet needs and help people connect with God.

A week and a half ago I attended a Gideons Banquet. They're the guys who place Bibles in hotels, hospitals, schools, jails, etc. They don't force anyone to take a Bible or read it. They simply place them in high-traffic areas and people may choose to take and read it or leave it be. A good work of which we are proud to be a part.

Looking into our being a host church for Angel Food Ministry which helps people stretch their budgets. Another good work. I'm excited about the possibility or our congregation being part of this. Lord knows folks would appreciate help to cut costs on their grocery bill. This would not replace our "Food Pantry" which gives food at no cost, but this would certainly complement the Pantry ministry.

I meet with a group of guys on Tuesday nights where we are reading and discussing the book The Shack, the bestseller written by William Paul Young. This is a controversial book in many circles, and many well-known pastors have labeled it "heresy". We are finding it to be both challenging and encouraging. Some have described it as being "life-changing". I'm reluctant to put that label on any book, but it has certainly helped us better understand and connect to God--and He is truly life-changing.

I've been enjoying exploring some fascinating discoveries about the Red Sea Crossing as recorded in the the Bible in the Book of Exodus. Amazing how often science confirms the Biblical accounts, but those discoveries don't get much publicity in news accounts or even educational settings.

Breaking the Silence

2009-01-28T08:45:00.012-05:00

I've been absent from writing here for the past two and a half weeks. Although I've been lurking about on my favorite blogs every day I haven't taken time to update this one. Mostly I've been in a contemplative/introspective mood and needed to spend time thinking, processing and "digesting" some of the things with which I'm wrestling--spending less time talking and writing, and more time thinking and praying.

There's been the usual stuff, too -- helping tend to my Mother-in-law, planning and delivering six "messages" (I hate the word 'sermon') each week, going to meetings, visiting sick people in the hospital and presiding at funerals.

Some of the out-of-the-ordinary things I considered blogging about, but didn't:

The Mail Spill: I turn the corner in a commercial area of town and there are letters, magazines, and sale fliers all over the place. Up on the right a white station wagon with a U.S. Postal Service logo has been abandoned with its flashers on--no sign of the driver. So I got out and began collecting the letters, bills, bill payments, small parcels, etc., A lady pulled over to help, thinking I was the postal worker. Finally a mail truck rolled up, just as confused about what had happened and the whereabouts of the station wagon driver as we were. We left our collection with him...I just hope none of my mail was in that batch of litter.

My Amazing Son: The report card revealed that while he's not at the top of his class he did raise his grades in every subject over the previous grading period. He was selected by his peers to represent his class for Homecoming (his school celebrates it during basketball season). I drove him for the tuxedo fitting (man, he looked sharp!), was his "audience" as he practiced his speech that he delivered to the full student body during a School Assembly a couple of days before the big event, and took him to get a haircut (it was a great haircut, he looked gooood). He escorted a young lady who is an exchange student from Tokyo, Japan--they looked great and enjoyed their evening in the spotlight.

Medical Incompetence: I had blood drawn for a routine check of cholesterol levels and such, only to receive a phone call a week later that there had been some confusion at the lab and my samples had been switched with another patient. They needed me to come in so they could draw more blood and re-do the lab work. Uggghhhhh!

Inauguration Day: Our area had a (no) snow day, with the local forecast calling for 3-5 inches of the white stuff by mid-morning schools was canceled for the day. The storm materialized south of us and we didn't see a solitary flake all day long--except the meteorologists on TV trying to explain how they could have been so far off with their predictions. Anyway, got to see the Inaugural events; the swearing-in ceremony and the motorcade/walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. Wow! Inspiring! Made me so proud of our nation and democracy in general. It was an incredible event.

Green Screen: Got to experience a first--doing some filming in front of "green screen". Nailed it in one take. The camera man/director was impressed. Good for the ego. Now I can't wait to see the finished product and what the background looks like. The whole thing' was a little disconcerting, like signing a blank check and trusting the person to whom you give it to fill it the correct amount.

At the Movies: I had a funeral in the morning into the early afternoon, and my son had a half-day of school--early release for Patent/Teacher Conferences. So we both took the afternoon off and went to see "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" . We laughed until we hurt. Stupid humor. Remnant laughter, where you just think about a scene hours later and bust out laughing, leaving those around you wondering what's wrong with you. Kevin James plays the lead character with such sincerity and a straight face that just looking at him makes me laugh. The funniest scene was the citizens arrest in the Victoria's Secret store. Stupid funny.

The Journey

2009-01-28T08:02:00.004-05:00

"MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."

- Thomas Merton

What is God REALLY Like?

2009-01-10T17:40:00.008-05:00

I used to see God as a heavenly Santa Claus; the sees-all, knows-all rewarder of “nice” people. Then I grew to see Him as a king; a benevolent dictator…unless you disobeyed, at which point he was malevolent and cruel. Then I grew to see him as a stern judge to be feared; angrily holding my fate in his hands.

In all these scenarios he was to be feared, his approval resting on the sincerity and abundance of good deeds I performed. Mostly I saw God as unforgiving. Jesus yes, but God, no. The righteous, holy judge who exacts justice… and all who stand before him are guilty.

Fear, guilt and insecurity ruled my heart and mind. Ever-hopeful that the good would get noticed, and the bad thoughts and actions would get overlooked somehow. A friend compared his spiritual journey to the children’s board game, “Chutes and Ladders”. Climbing the ladder upward through effort and “goodness”, only to sin and hit the slide downward into doubt and fear.

When we ask, “Who is God?” we get a thousand images, adjectives and emotions swirling about—many of them contradicting each other. Even if we refine the question to “What is God like?” we begin to think of actions attributed to Him: creating, delivering, providing, etc., as though we are reading off his resume. These lists tell of his accomplishments, but not his character.

God has a personality. My Chutes and Ladder friend also noted that “We can only answer the question “What is God like?” out of relationship, not education.” It is a difficult question to answer when one has no personal experience with God from which to draw. The way we view God – and the way that makes us feel – tends to be the way we portray God to others: vindictive and vengeful, or redemptive and relational.

Enter Jesus. What did Jesus teach us about what God is like? Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” The Father (God) is like Jesus. Thinking about Jesus stirs up a whole different list of images, adjectives and emotions: Friend, love, forgiveness, compassion, acceptance, respecter of choice, etc.

The idea of falling into the hands of God stirs up feelings of fear. The idea of falling into the hands of Jesus brings feelings of comfort and peace. If the Old Covenant were sufficient we wouldn’t need a new one.

Jesus, with one exception, always referred to God as “Father”. Only one time, while hanging on the cross, did Jesus address him as “God.” “God” is a distant, authoritative figure while “Father” is a term of relationship, closeness and intimacy.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus cried out, “Abba, Father!” Abba would be like the English “Daddy” or “Papa”. Father is a term or respect. Daddy is a term of endearment. God is often misunderstood and misrepresented. Jesus came to clarify things and show us what God is really like. When you mess up, do you see yourself standing before an angry judge or an accepting, although disappointed, Daddy?

In fact is God ever disappointed in us? God is certainly disappointed in some of our decisions, but not in us. Like King David, we will always bear the consequences of our choices and sin, but even at his lowest David was never rejected by God.

When I sin, when I "miss the mark”, it's usually "down the chute of shame" for me. I'm learning that even in my failure God does not reject me. Even in my failure I can rise up the ladder of acceptance and find forgiveness and corrective counsel in the lap of God.

Secondly, by living under the judgment of God I tend to make others live under mine. I’m learning to extend grace the way I’ve received it from God.

Epiphany

2009-01-09T20:44:00.001-05:00

Tuesday of this week marked "Epiphany" on the Christian calendar. According to the dictionary, "Epiphany may refer to a Christian holiday on January 6 (the Twelfth Day of Christmas) celebrating the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus. It may also reference the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something."

Tuesday night was very emotional and cathartic. I had an indescribable encounter. A time of discovering of old wounds I didn't know were there. A time of supernatural healing deep within my heart. Bottom line: I know God is real. I know God loves me.

Check out this song, a prayer to God really, by the group Sanctus Real which gives voice to what's been stirring in me the past few days.

It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
And all I can do is surrender

(Chorus)
Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something Heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Reevaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will
Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything I surrender...
To...

(Chorus)

Time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly
Something Heavenly

It's time to fix up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out

I've Learned That...

2009-01-09T19:50:00.003-05:00

Received this in a forwarded e-mail from a friend. Not sure of its origin or author, but found it worth repeating:

I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that, regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.

I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a life.

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you, but if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, then happiness will find you.

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch -- holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back .

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

New Year's Resolution

2009-01-06T17:15:00.000-05:00

New Year's Resolution: don't do ministry alone; bring others along and develop new leaders as I go.

Quote of the Day

2009-01-05T18:52:00.000-05:00

"Hey Dear, on the way home from the grocery store we filled your gas up with car."
_______________

Either sheer fatigue or the dyslexia kicking in... or a combination of both. Time for a nap.

New Year's Wedding

2009-01-02T13:51:00.002-05:00

The wedding was scheduled for noon on January first. (I'm thinking, get married a day earlier and get the tax break for all of 2008, but I digress). It was to be in the home with just a few friends and family members.

I was on the street at 11:50, but couldn't find the house. I had been in contact with the bride on several occasions, but only had her work number, which would be of no help with the office being closed for the holiday.

At 12:20 the bride called me. Yea! She wasn't even in town yet. Double yea! I wasn't late after all. I stayed put, she drove by on her way in and escorted me to the house. Finally, at 1:30pm the ceremony began. It was beautiful. Simple. Sweet. Bare feet on hard wood floors. Casual, with lots of laughter and tears.

They had written, and shared their wedding vows. Personal stuff--hearts exposed. They pledged their love and committed themselves to each other for a lifetime. People who say, "It's just a piece of paper" are wrong. It is much, much more than that.

Quote of the Day

2008-12-30T15:17:00.001-05:00

"It's been a very bad hair year."
~ Kim Thompson

_______________
She was apologizing (which she does waaay too often) for spending more than usual on getting her hair done. We're on a pretty tight budget with the new addition to our family and the accompanying extra expenses for medical paraphernalia.

Apparently Kim felt guilty for spending so much on a haircut and felt (unnecessarily) that she needed to justify the expense. She had gone all summer, living in a hospital room and caring for her mom practically round-the-clock.

It was worth it -- her hair looks great!!!!

Happy Anniversary

2008-12-29T10:36:00.004-05:00

Twenty-four (and counting) years ago, today, Kim and I made a (hopefully) lifetime commitment to God and to each other. Those promises have been tested over the course of those years, but so far, by the grace of God, we are still enjoying this exhilarating, exasperating, joyful, sometimes painful, adventure of sharing life together in marriage.

Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
She willingly works with her hands.
She rises while it is yet night
And provides food for her household.

She girds herself with strength,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.

She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all."

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

Proverbs 31:10-31 (NKJV)

O Holy Night

2008-12-24T00:01:00.001-05:00

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;

It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here came the wise men from Orient land.

The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,

In all our trials born to be our friend!

He knows our need, To our weaknesses is no stranger.

Behold your King, before him lowly bend!

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His Gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

And in His Name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy Name!

Christ is the Lord, O, Praise his name forever.

His power and glory every more proclaim!

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

God's Marvelous Creation

2008-12-16T09:28:00.029-05:00

On a table in my office there is a picture of me, along with two dear friends, standing on the banks of the Mekong River in Southwest China. Wild, wonderful terrain. So the report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) about the discovery of "new" species in the Mekong Region of Asia caught my attention.

At least 1,068 new species were identified in the Greater Mekong from 1997 to 2007 -- a rate of two per week for the past decade -- along with several thousand tiny invertebrates. Striped rabbits and a spider larger than a dinner plate are among new-found species discovered in this remote wildlife hotspot.

The Greater Mekong covers portions of China, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand and is described as "one of the last scientifically unexplored regions of the world."

Among the most "bizarre" creatures to be discovered were the hot-pink, spiny dragon milipedes laced with cyanide.

I'm one of those crazy creationists who believes in intelligent design and an infinitely intelligent Designer. To me, the beauty, creativity and intricacy of the natural world point to a Creator.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made..."
(Romans 1:20)

It is amazing to think that these species have been on the planet the entire time and we are just now finding them. I imagine God enjoys watching the scientists find something "new" that He put there long ago; joining in their jubilation over the discovery. All of creation points to the Creator, and the natural world with all its wonders is the grandest of cathedrals.

"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 people life and breath and everything else.

From one blood 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)

That we can have a relationship with the God who created us is the most amazing discovery of all.

Simple Christmas

2008-12-08T21:28:00.007-05:00

With the economic downturn many families are looking to be more frugal with their gift-giving this holiday season, which is actually a good idea every season of every year. Here are some (hopefully) helpful ideas for spending your time and money wisely this Christmas:

¨Draw names instead of giving to everyone.

¨Let others help; tell them your intention to give less and ask them not to buy an expensive gift.

¨Give family gifts instead of individual gifts.

¨Give gifts only to children.

¨Don’t give children money to give you a gift.

¨Design and make your own gifts.

¨Set a spending limit with spouse and family and stick to it.

¨Don’t buy a gift that simply will be returned.

¨Bake something.

¨Go caroling.

¨Create a homemade gift certificate for a favor or service.

¨Give to mission or benevolent projects in someone’s honor.

¨Give and wrap gifts in a way that cares for the environment, God’s creation.

¨Give the gift of your time and talents—more presence, fewer presents!

¨Teach someone a skill you possess.

¨Make cards or postcards on your computer.

¨Send electronic cards—often FREE.

¨Write a story or poem, make a song or create art as a gift.

¨Write a letter of love and/or appreciation.

¨Adopt a family in the community—names are available through churches or community agencies.

¨Support church missions around the world.

Check out http://simplechristmas.org/ for more suggestions. You might also find this book helpful: “Unplug the Christmas Machine: A Complete Guide to Putting Love and Joy Back into the Season” by Jo Robinson and Jean Coppock Staeheli.

Roll (over) Tide!

2008-12-06T21:25:00.003-05:00

Having grown up in Mobile, Alabama I've been a University of Alabama football fan most of my life. Also, having grown up on the coast, I understand the "Crimson Tide" reference; but no, I still don't know why we have an elephant as a mascot. Anyway, my #1 ranked team fell to Southeast Conference rival Florida today.

No I'm not sad; it's just a game. In the spirit of good sportsmanship I offer this congratulatory post to all my friends in Gator-nation. Good job, and good luck. I'll be pulling for the Gators to win the big bowl game and finish the season at #1. That way at least I can say my team only lost one game all season, and only one team was better than "we" were -- this year. Wait 'til next year! Roll Tide!!

PS: No I'm not sad; it's just a game. Slave trafficking makes me sad--and angry. Innocent and defenseless children being abused makes me sad and angry. Lost football games don't make me sad. Half the teams that played this weekend were "losers" -- it's just a game.

Offensive Christ Followers

2008-12-05T08:36:00.007-05:00

In the news: OBERLIN, Ohio — A northern Ohio artist known for envelope-pushing holiday displays is back - with Santa Claus in a wheelchair being pushed down stairs by a crazed tree. The Santa in Keith McGuckin's installation at the Oberlin Public Library has no legs because of an accident involving alcohol and some power lines. An accompanying narrative explains that the tree later goes off to a strip club with money from Santa's Salvation Army kettle.

McGuckin's holiday creations have raised eyebrows for years. His 2006 gingerbread Nazis drew so many complaints that he was forced to remove them from a hardware store window. Library director Darren McDonough said the latest display is staying. He jokes that "If a library doesn't have something that offends, it's not doing its job."
_____________________

I'm not endorsing McGukin's work, but I was struck by the statement of the director of the library. There are too many businesses and public places that remove every religious symbol and reference for "fear of offending" some minority group or individual; so it's interesting to see what someone will defend and allow, and what they censor. Interesting.

What really got me is that what Mr. McDonough said of his library could be said of the church. In fact I'll be so bold to say that as Christ-followers, if we are not offending people (especially modern-day Pharisees) then we're not following Jesus closely enough.

Just a few examples that Jesus had a reputation for being offensive:

Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
John 6:61-65 (NIV)

On another occasion:

Jesus went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
Mark 6:1-3 (NIV)

One more:
"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him (Jesus) will not be put to shame."
Romans 9:33 (ESV)

I like the advice my friend Mark Batterson gave:
"As a pastor, you have to preach what God put in your heart and let the chips fall where they may. At the end of the day, the only true validation is whether or not we said what God wanted us to say. The sermon your congregation liked the least may be the one God liked the most. Or vice versa."

I think too often the church misses it by offending the kind of people that Jesus most catered to, and catering to the kind of people that Jesus most often offended.

An Open Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste

2008-12-02T14:18:00.006-05:00

I heard it again today, "Beware of having an open mind...your brains might fall out." I've seen it expressed different ways: "I tried to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out", or "people with open minds lose their brains", or "some people are so open-minded they will fall for anything."

Are they advocating close-mindedness? Slamming open-minded people and implying they are stupid? I've always equated close-mindedness with ignorance, not the other way around.

Personally, I reject both. I choose to opt for a filtered-mind. Not so closed-minded so as to be unable to consider new ideas; nor so open-minded that one becomes gullible enough to fall for anything.

All ideas are not created equal. Some think an idea is good simply because it is new, while some think an idea to be good simply because it is old. Some are convinced that every new idea is bad, while others are convinced that every old idea is bad, outdated and irrelevent.

So we throw out some "old ideas" and traditons that need to be treasured, reject some wonderful "new-fangled" advancements, and hold on to a bunch of garbage--ideas both old and new that are not helpful for anybody.

The filtered-mind considers every idea, and checks it for truthfulness and value. What is your filter? By what standard do you evaluate every notion that vies for your allegiance?

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?". But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthian 2:14-16)

To be led by the Spirit of God, to have spiritual discernment, to have the mind of Christ--to think and act like Jesus. A filtered mind.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

* Just a Thought: some people have closed their minds to even the possibility that God exists, and yet think they are open-minded. Do you know everything there is to know? Let's be generous and say you know 25% of all the world's knowledge (languages, histories of every nation, etc); is it possible that God exists in the 75% you don't yet know? Just a thought.

Inspiration

2008-12-01T19:29:00.002-05:00

Sunday was a very busy day, but very fulfilling. One of the highlights was my "brother" Jim L. telling the story about the amazing changes God has made in his life and then singing "He Was There All the Time." Beautiful!

Time after time
I went searching for peace in some void.
I was trying to blame
All my ills on this world
I was in.
Surface relationships used me 'til
I was done in.
And all of the while someone was begging
To free me from sin.

Chorus: He was there all the time
He was there all the time
Waiting patiently in line
He was there all the time.

Never again
Will I look for a fake rainbow's end.
Now that I have the answer
My life is just starting to rhyme.
Sharing each new day with
Him Is a cup of fresh wine.
And oh what I missed,
He's been waiting right there all the time.

(music and lyrics by Gary S. Paxton, who has a pretty incredible life-story of his own)

Field Trip!

2008-12-01T19:11:00.008-05:00

Friday night we loaded up two vehicles worth of kinfolk and headed out to the oceanfront of Virginia Beach. On the Boardwalk they have displayed the McDonald's "Holiday Lights at the Beach" sponsored by Verizon--nothing like corporate sponsorship.

It was beautiful and helped everyone get in the spirit of the season. Peggy was very upset and took awhile to realize we weren't taking her back to the nursing home.