What if...?

What if I woke up tomorrow and everything was different? What if I lost my job? Lost my house? My savings vanished? What if our whole American system collapsed? What if there was a nuclear holocaust and I was one of the survivors?

If those things - or worse - happened, what would be my response? Would I, as Job's wife suggested (Job 2:9), "curse God and die"?

How morbid, right? Then let me phrase the question another way, a way suggested by one of our worship songs at church yesterday. It was my first time attending this church, Christ Fellowship in West Palm Beach and it was an awesome time of singing! So as we were singing, the words just jumped out at me as if the Lord were speaking directly to me:

Should this life hold nothing but my Savior,

I will praise you always.

And then later in the same song (What A Savior, Hillsong Worship),

Should this life I live hold nothing but the cross

Where Jesus took my shame,

Then with arms stretched wide and my hands held high,

My every breath will breathe again.

So here's the thing - when I sing that, how much do I mean it? It's easy to say all we need is Jesus. It makes for a nice emotional song on Sunday morning. But really. If life held NOTHNG but Jesus - nothing - would I praise him? Would you?

But that's what real faith is. Repenting and believing in Jesus - salvation - is not a formula to give us "fire insurance." Or just a ticket to heaven. It's not saying the magic words in a prayer and then going on our merry way. It's turning to him with our whole lives. And when we do that, we realize that we exist for his glory, not for our comfort.

Knowing that Jesus is all we need is where real freedom is. Because once we reach that point, we don't have a fret about elections. Or the economy. Or ISIS. Or anything else.

Take it all, but give me Jesus. Did you sing that Sunday? Did you mean it?

Then, as Frankie says.....relax.

Book review: Bad Religion

Not too long ago, I came across an article about the political phenomenon that is Donald Trump; the article was entitled How Christianity Explains Trump. In the course of the article a reference was made to the book Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics.by Ross Douthat, a columnist for the New York Times. As I look around at the state of faith in my country today, I found the premise fascinating. So it didn't take me too long to read it. I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the history of 20th and 21st century American religion, and what it means for us today.

The book is divided into two main parts. First, it traces major trends in religion over the past 100 years or so. This may sound like a tedious exercise and at times it really is. There is a lot of history, a lot of names, and no shortage of facts. While this is laborious, it is necessary to lay the groundwork for today's issues. He starts with a period of time where faith was grounded in the historic Christian tradition. While there were the usual denominational disagreements about doctrines, the foundation was the historic view of the nature of Jesus, the Trinity, and God's purposes for the world. The church was growing in popularity and figures like Billy Graham helped spur unprecedented levels of church attendance. He then shows how the church moved into what he calls "the locust years," where people (and clergy) were leaving the church in droves. Much of the church then responded with "accommodation," which was based on the idea that if we could just water down the message, people would come back to a faith that didn't demand much of them. It didn't work. So then came "resistance," characterized by pushback against the softness of accommodation. It led to active political involvement of evangelicals and is the basis of much of the support from Christians that Republicans enjoy today.

And then we come to today's world, and this is where I think Douthat has hit the nail on the head. All of these forces have led us to a pair of religious philosophies that he labels as heresies. My first reaction was, "Whoa, that's strong language!" But as I look back on the warnings of Jesus and the writings of the apostles about false teachers, I think he may have something. Both of these heresies are driving the public debates of 2016.

The first is the prosperity gospel - the unscriptural concept that God's primary goal for Christians is that we have riches, or at least an easy life. If we pray hard enough or have enough faith, God stands ready to give us all that we ever wanted. Put another way, God owes me the American Dream. This is an insidious distortion of the gospel, but why is the subject for another post.

The second is when we turn American nationalism into a religion. Somehow, a large number of us have come to believe that we are some sort of latter day Israelites, the chosen nation of God. And as such, we claim the promises of God to his people (made up of "people from every tribe and language and people and nation" - Revelation 5:9) and act as if they were made specifically to our nation. This leads to a sense of entitlement and religious snobbery toward our Christian brothers and sisters around the world. It show up on the liberal side in a belief that the USA is the solution to all the world's problems. On the conservative side, it shows up as a deep pessimism: Woe is us, for our nation which used to serve the living God is sliding down the path to destruction. If only we were God's people like we used to be.

The fact is (conservatives) that God's people have always been a remnant in every nation. It should be out goal to expand the kingdom of God one person at a time.

And it is also true (liberals) that our country is not the church and so we can not expect it to meet the needs of all the people; that's our job.

I believe the book gives an excellent diagnosis of the deep divisions we have in this country. So how should we respond as Christians? I believe we must:

• Commit ourselves to the kingdom of God as our first loyalty,
• Recognize that our material blessings are a gift of God, not a right as Americans,
• Use more of our resources (time and money) for God's kingdom, including finding ways to meet the needs of the poor,
• Make sure our political thinking is kingdom-based, taking a stand on each issue separately rather than allowing ourselves to be pigeon-holed into one box or the other, and, above all,
• Avoid voting out of fear or with our pocketbooks; vote for what's right without regard for self.

Again, I highly recommend this book for anyone who is wondering why Christian influence is divided and waning. And then I recommend a lot of prayer about what you can do.

God bless his creation.

Let's try this again...

Blogging is now well over a decade old, and certainly it has been changing. As a new medium, it was the home to all sorts of clutter - daily ramblings about any and every thing that might be on a person's mind. As well as any and every thing they did. Then it moved on to have themes...sometimes. Today, there are so many blogs that it's hard to tell which ones are worth reading.

When I began my blog in 2010, the original motivation was to write about my missions to Africa. To let people know what God was teaching me, what he might want them to know, and yes, to hash out my feelings. But it was never intended to be especially focused. Here is a quote from my first post:

So here we go. (I won't post) every day or maybe even every week. I plan to post when there's something that would be fun, interesting, or informative.

Yeah, pretty vague.

Almost a year ago, I developed some sort of writer's block. It's been weird posting so infrequently, but at the same time I think it has allowed me to think more about why I did this. I need for it be focused and regular. In other words, if I want you to give me your precious time to read it, I want to respect and honor that decision. So now I plan to start back. This is what I want it to look like:

Frequency:

• Weekly, on Mondays.
• Extra posts when something significant is going on, like posting from Africa while on a mission.
• While writing fewer posts, share links to them more often so that they will show up in more newsfeeds.

Topic:

Insight on living life as a follower of Jesus. This will include things I've learned from Scripture, observations on culture where the right questions are being asked (TV, movies, books, music, etc.), and observations from around me. I will try to relate everything to this overall theme.

So here's the first post from the new blog. In the next few weeks, I will touch on:

• A book I recently read that nails what's going on in American Christianity, 
• Batman vs. Superman,
• A motivational presentation that was good, but missed the mark,
• And more.

I hope those of you who used to read will jump back on. I hope others will take advantage of the newfound consistency to start following. In any case,

Here we go.

Again.

Christmas: A real event in space-time

Yes, I admit it. What a geeky title for a blog post. Bear with me a little though, if you will.

There is a Christmas song I heard on the radio the other day. I've known it for most of my life, and I've even sung it as part of a choir. It is a beautiful sentiment, and makes its point powerfully. Its name is Some Children See Him.

Yes, it is a beautiful song. Here is one of the best renditions ever, recorded by James Taylor:



The main point of the song is a good one. The gospel is intended for all people everywhere. At the time when Jesus lived on the earth, many of his fellow Jews felt that the Messiah was coming exclusively for them. So many parables, so many actions, so many teachings were designed to show that he had come for the whole world - Jew and Gentile. The gospel, the Kingdom, was for the nations. The message was there throughout he Hebrew Scriptures, from Adam, to Abraham, to Moses, to Isaiah. But they just didn't get it. After his resurrection, Jesus said to go into ALL the world. Reaching out to all people, of all races, with all skin colors.

And we in the Western church can be just as stubborn as the people of 1st century Palestine. So much of our Christianity is centered in what's good for us. We see a lily-white Jesus who wants to make all people more like us. We may not say it, but it creeps into our subconscious so easily. And I think that is what the song is speaking to.

But to me there is one thing we have to watch out for as we sing these lyrics. The objective is good, but the execution may be flawed. You see, one of the biggest dangers to faith today is the idea that truth is relative. "That may be true for you, but it's not for me." The word of the day is "tolerance," and it's clear that as a society we are defining it as total acceptance of everyone's belief's as equally true.

This is contrary to both Biblical revelation and common sense. Either your car is red or it's not. We can';t say with a serious face, "That car is red to me, but if you believe it's blue I'm sure that's equally true."

And now back to the geeky title of this post. God entered the world in the person of Jesus, born as a baby. The miracle of the incarnation: the Word became flesh. The creator of space-time entered his creation at a specific time in a specific place.

And with specific skin.

So yes, children all over the world may see Jesus as being like them. And that's great....as long as they are also taught that he was actually one person with one body and one skin tone. He is not a concept, a spirit, a symbol. We must not spiritualize his coming. He was, and is, a person.

The song gets this right: It is likely that most of our depictions have been wrong. He was Jewish and therefore probably had darker skin that most of our paintings. But he had one skin color. He was really in the flesh. We don't know what it was. But we know it was real.

A picky point? Maybe. But I just worry that when we de-emphasize the humanity of Jesus, we lose the truth of the incarnation. The real God of the universe became a real person with real human characteristics based on real human DNA.

Maybe the fact that for almost all of humanity (all but Jewish) he is a different ethnicity from us means this: we don't have a corner on his nature. He's not our Jesus - he's everyone's Jesus. And he came to save people from every corner of the earth.

And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scrolls and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)

Hallelujah!

A fragile Christmas

"This nativity is fragile."

It was a display in our church atrium. I noticed it Sunday while we were preparing to present our annual Christmas musical. It was, and is, a beautiful nativity scene. Angels, shepherds, Magi, Mary, Joseph....and of course the Baby. A picturesque display of the moments after God entered human history.

But isn't the sign a little distracting? Doesn't it break the spell?

Not for me. After all, it got me thinking - how fragile is the nativity scene? The real one.

In one sense very fragile, by choice. God, the Creator of everything, the King of the universe, chose to become a little baby. He needed his mother. He cried. His diapers needed changing. He had to be fed and clothed and shielded from the elements. So fragile. By choice. He became vulnerable so that he could identify with me and my kind. And so we could see that God loved us enough to do that.

But, oh, how powerful. In that manger lay the One who would heal the sick, raise the dead, comfort the afflicted, walk on water, calm the seas, and feed 5,000 men with just a few loaves and fishes. All the power behind the universe was focused in the one bundle of flesh. Doesn't sound too fragile to me.

Fragile:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8, ESV)

But powerful:

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11, ESV) 

So yes, the nativity scene is fragile. As the sign says, "please avoid touching." But it is more powerful than anything else in the world. So instead, let it touch you.

Let the One at the center touch you. And give you life. To the glory of God the Father.

Merry Christmas...

Nothing Compares

Count your blessings, my mother used to say. She has been gone nine years today, and I still miss her so much. I miss everything about her, and it hits hard on a day like this. But this happens to be a day where this one lesson of hers shines. And it shines through the Christmas story.

Count your blessings. I have so many. Do I dare start listing them? No, I would surely leave off something or someone important. The list is as close to infinite as something created in a finite time can be. Can I at least list categories? Maybe. Family. Friends. Church. Career. Mission. Wow, just to start to list them would be daunting.

But it is a finite number. And I guess I could count them.

So there is this song from our Christmas musical that we sang tonight. And there is this line:

I could count all the ways that my heart has been blessed. But nothing compares to this.

What is "this"? What could there possible be that would dwarf all orther blessings? Take a few minutes to listen:




The gospel of Jesus the Messiah. There is nothing - nothing - that compares to it. The incarnation - God taking on flesh as a baby. The cross - God taking the punishment I deserve on himself and defeating evil. The resurrection - Jesus conquering death, so that one day I will see him face to face.

Truly, it's a story without compare. And it's my story.

There is another song, one that was a favorite of my mother:

This is my story, this is my song.

Praising my Savior all the day long.

It's a story without compare. No, nothing compares with this.

Thank you, Father.

The Walking Dead - First Time Again

This past Sunday night, the new season of The Walking Dead began with our survivors trying to adapt to life in the so-far peaceful town of Alexandria. The people of Alexandria have been living a sheltered life, almost completely oblivious to the dangers outside. And so comes our group - Rick, Glenn, Maggie, Daryl, Carol and the rest. They have been fighting "walkers" (zombies) for around two years, but they have an uphill struggle convincing their new friends to learn. Because where is the danger?

It was a very puzzling plot line for the last few episodes of Season 5. Yes, the people of Alexandria were naive. No, they were not equipped to deal with the dangers of the zombie apocalypse. But why? Why had they been so sheltered? Why were their walls not being swarmed by the walking dead?

And then, as the new season opened, we saw this:

It was a quarry. A ravine filled with hundreds - no, thousands - of walkers. Trapped by the walls, and trapped by some large commercial trucks that blocked the openings. There they were, all these deadly creatures. The town had been safe because they were trapped, trapped nearby, just out of their view. But always out there, always on the verge of escaping. And the time was coming when they would escape. Soon. How would Alexandria prepare? What was the plan?
___________________

And so it goes. For many of us, we are cruising through our day-to-day, mundane lives. We're reasonably happy. We're mostly safe. We have fallen into a routine that we fool ourselves into thinking will go on forever. Or at least for a while, and we'll worry about the after when we get there.

But lurking are the walkers. Just beyond our walls in the quarry. Danger, heartbreak, cracks in the armor. Things that can bring the walls come crashing in. Walkers named...

• Cancer
• Greed
• Accidents
• Selfishness
• Hatred
• Heart disease
• Resentment
• Hurricanes
• Lust
• Death of loved ones
• Earthquakes
• Sexual permissiveness
• Laziness
• Anger
• Tornadoes
• ..................................

And on and on and on.

Lurking in the quarry, waiting for an opening.

Rick and the residents of Alexandria have a plan. What is your plan?

My only plan, my only hope, for dealing with the hundreds of manifestations of death waiting to devour me is this: Trust in the God of the universe, and put all my hope in the saving death and resurrection of his Son. He is sovereign over the world and over all the forces of sin, evil, and destruction that want to take me down. He won't keep me from having to face them. But his power will bring me through them.

How about you? You have a quarry full of walkers too; I know you do. Please don't just whistle in the dark, pretending they'll never come out. Oh, they will. And what will you do?

You downloaded WHAT?!

The other day I downloaded a new book for my Kindle.

Yeah, it's the book pictured here. The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller.

Say whaaaat?!

Why in the world would I want to read that? Not married. Never been married. Not sure that God has marriage in my future.

But Keller is one of my favorite authors and the premise of this new book grabbed me. You see, whether I get married or not, I firmly believe that the Scriptures portray the union of a man and a woman as the predominant picture of God's relationship with his people.

We have become very cynical about marriage in our culture. The divorce rate...the trend of so many couples living together without the vows...the growing belief (now institutionalized by our government) that a person is free to define marriage however he wants - in so many ways we have let go of the original intent when marriage was ordained by God.

In Genesis it says that a man should leave his father and mother, hold fast to his wife, and they should become one flesh. This was the first picture of how Jesus would leave his father, hold fast to his people the church, and make us all one flesh with him - the body of Christ.

All through the Bible we see God portrayed as the bridegroom and his people as the bride, right up to the culmination of history in Revelation 21. I firmly believe this, as stated beautifully by author G.K. Beale:

As husbands unconditionally love their wives and as wives respond to this liven a faithful manner, they are actors on a redemptive- historical stage performing a play before the onlooking audience of the world. As husbands and wives perform their roles on this stage in the way God has designed, their roles are an object lesson to the watching world that Christ has left his Father to love and become one with his bride, and that those who respond in faith can become part of this corporate bride.

What a beautiful way for a family to tell the story of Jesus.

I definitely look forward to Chapter 7, "Singleness and Marriage." Keller definitely intends for we singles to be part of his audience and I know he'll have a lot to say for me. But even if that chapter were not included, I'd read it anyway. Why? I love the picture of Christ and the church that will be portrayed. It's a portrait of his love for me. And it's a foreshadowing of eternity with our Bridegroom.

 Let's read....

Ethiopia 2015 - last night in Addis

An empty living room. Our team has retired for the evening, and all that is left is one more day in Addis - a day that will end with us boarding a plane. I can't believe the time has passed by so quickly. It seems like a day or two ago that I was seeing old friends and meeting new ones in Dulles International Airport. We qucikly meshed into a team, but more than a team, a body of Christ-followers who have grown to love each other.  I am staying up a little while longer, savoring the glow of God's love that has filled this place throughout the week.

The last day is always a hard one in the field too. You spend time with kids, share the gospel, visit some of their homes, and see them every day for four days - it's not easy to leave. Thankfully, we still have tomorrow morning with one group of children. But that will be over soon too. I expect to be back soon, God willing. But that doesn't make it easy.

I will write more about the team after we get back - that is after the 43-hour jouney that begins tomorrow night. But I'd like the focus of this post to be on the ones who make this kind of ministry possible. I want to thank all those who have supported our team from back home. I mean:

- The spouses, parents, and other family and friends who will have gone 10 days without seeing their loved one(s).

- Those who have provided financial support for team members.

- Everyone who has been praying for our time here.  

- The staff of Visiting Orphans, Out of the Ashes, Mercy Ministries, and Holy Savior Guest Home.

All of you have made a difference in the lives of chidlren and adults here in Ethiopia. Your support has allowed children to know that God loves them enough to send us halfway around the world to see them. And you have been part of spreading the glory of God to the ends of the earth.

God's richest blessings on each of you. God said, "Go!" And you made it possible.

So let me finish with a few more pictures of what we have been doing here:

Thanks again from the bottom of our hearts. God bless you. See you all soon!

Ethiopia 2015 - Wednesday

Today was another awesome day in Addis Ababa. It had everything we've come to expect: time playing with the children, opportunities to talk about Jesus, meeting some needs by bringing needed materials. And serving lunch to But more than anything else, it has been fun watching our team pour out their hearts to children. Here are a few shots of that...

Hard to really see from pictures - but an amazing day!

We also got to spend some time with the local workers from Out of the Ashes. These dedicated men and women spend their lives year round making sure that the children have their physical needs met while hearing about the One who loves them more than they can imagine. It was an honor for us to get to know them better.

This is a special place. We love being here. Another great day in store tomorrow. We appreciate your prayers.

Ethiopia 2015 - what a start

Hello friends and family! I just wanted to write a short blog post to let you know thigs are going very well here in Addis Ababa. I have not had the internet connectivity I would have liked so this is my first post. And since the clock just struck midnight, it will be short. But I did want to let you know the wonderful things the Lord is doing.

First, our team is meshing and has already become an amazing group. Their selflessness, love for Jesus, love for the people of Ethiopia, and joy is evident. They are fun to be with, which helps to fill the work with enthusiasm. I can already tell this week will be way too short.

One way that spirit showed up today was when the OA staff asked for our help in moving some beds. They are moving some of the children from one location to another and today it was bed moving time. So without hesitation, our team jumped right in and carried these beds a fairly good distance. All with an attitude of wanteing to do whatber they could to serve the local workers - the ones who are with the children all year. God is working through these friends.

So here they are moving the beds:

And just a few more pictures from our first couple of days. Hope you can sense the joy:

Well, that's about enough - gotta get some sleep. Thank you for all your prayers. It's an awesome privilege.

Good night!

Hope

Yesterday at noon, I was privileged to be part of something that can only be described as transcendent. In the aftermath of the unspeakable tragedy in Charleston this week, Christians from across our city gathered to pray. To pray, to sing, to worship, and to join out hearts together. Citizens of Montgomery from across multiple churches, in a rich mixture of black and white, gathered to come before God as one. There was no message being sent. And that's what makes the message so powerful. If you are in God's kingdom - part of God's family - nothing else matters.

Over the course of an hour, we were led in prayers by ministers from across our city:

• A prayer for the nation by Rev. Lawson Bryan of First United Methodist Church
• A prayer for our state by Rev. Claude Shuford of Mount Zion AMEZ Church
• A prayer for forgiveness by Rev. James Turner of the Victory Through Faith Worship Center
• A prayer for the Church by Rev. Farrell Duncomb of St. Paul AME Church
• A prayer for reconciliation by Rev. Emmanuel Williams of Resurrection Catholic Church
• A prayer for the family by Rev. Brian Miller of Aldersgate United Methodist Church 
• And a prayer for unity by Rev. E. Baxter Morris of First Baptist, Ripley Street

And then our mayor shared some remarks leading into the singing of Amazing Grace.

You should have heard it!

The focus of the day was of course the victims of the Charleston shooting. It was not about us, not about our city, not about our problems. But I have to admit that I could not help thinking about those things. I saw hope, springing from the only place hope comes from.

From the the only answer to the madness around us - the gospel of Jesus the Messiah.

We have seen it in the way the victims' families have responded to their loss. (If you've ever read a link from my page, read this one!) And I saw it yesterday in the prayers of my fellow believers.

Love. In the face of hate. That's what we saw in Jesus at the cross, and it's a big part of what makes the Gospel different from religion.

And it's why evil will not win.

For that I'm thankful.

And hopeful.

Taking care of business

Judge not, so that you will not be judged.

- Jesus, in Matthew 7:1 (NASB)

To listen to some talk recently, one would think this isolated quote was the gospel. What is the greatest commandment, Jesus? Apparently not his answer, to love God with all your being. No, it must be this, right?

The rest of Scripture? Take it with a grain of salt, or at least interpret in the light of this one.

Until there's something we really want to judge.
___________________________

There's a really popular term these days. It's hypocrite. Anytime the world sees a Christian fail to live up to the standards of our message, it prompts one reaction: hypocrisy! See? They must not really believe what they say. They don't practice it.

Of course, this is absurd. The absolute beauty of the gospel, the absolutely most marvelous thing about what Jesus did for us, is that he knows we are flawed, messy, broken, at times disgusting - and he loves us anyway. "But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8, NASB, emphasis mine)

You know who wrote that verse? A guy named Paul, who wrote several letters making up most of the New Testament. Paul's background? He spent much of his early adult life traveling about putting Christians to death. Murder. Cold-blooded murder. Grace was enough to cover him, and he never forgot it.

Now at this point, what you're thinking about depends on when you read this. If you're reading it near the date I wrote it, you're thinking about Josh Duggar. But I'm sure if you're reading it six months from now there will be another issue, another follower of Christ in the spotlight for some way in which their actions did not match up with what they believe. It has happened since the beginning, and it will happen until the end. So I'm going to try to keep these thoughts at a more general level, and not make it about one situation. Does it apply? Sure, but enough about that.
___________________

So followers of Christ fail. It does not invalidate our message, and in some ways it highlights the true message. Christ came in the world to save sinners. But we do have to acknowledge this: when those hostile to our cause see those failings, it does cause some to stumble. We should always take sin seriously, for many reasons. One of those reasons is that some will use it as an excuse to reject the Savior. And the more excuses we can remove, the better. Which brings me to 1 Corinthians 5, and the real point of this post.

Please use the link above to read it yourself; I'm going to assume you have done so from here on.

This is a passage we don't talk too much about, at least in my church. There are probably several reasons for this, all of which are reasons we need to talk about it:

• It talks about a perverse sexual situation - even for our desensitized culture.
• It proposes that the church discipline the person for the behavior.
• It criticizes the church for standing by and letting it happen.
• It says we should hold believers accountable for their behavior.

Now, there's a word for what Paul is asking the church to do. He uses it four times in the passage. It's not a popular one. It's the one in our opening passage:

Judge.

So, if you read this passage carefully, it's pretty clear we have misinterpreted what Jesus meant. But that's a topic for another day. The topic for today is this: If we are going to be lights in the world, we have to take care of our own business. The time to say that anything goes in the church because we want to be loving and accepting is...well, it's not gone - it never was here. Yes, we have to speak the truth in love. But when we see our brother or sister doing things clearly against God's word, we need to react. If they claim the name of Jesus, they are by definition submitted themselves to the correction of the church. And we must start exercising it.

 As Paul says in verse 10, he doesn't mean that we should expect nonbelievers to behave like us. That is not the gospel. We should show them Jesus, let therm know God loves them despite their sin, and let him change their hearts. But once they are one of his, the world is watching. The world is looking to see whether belonging to Christ really changes anything. So it's critical that we help each other to show them that it does.

True followers of Jesus will grow in love for God and their neighbors. They will increasingly want to do good, and find themselves desiring evil things less and less. And it's our job to help each other do that.

So how about it, church? Can we commit to helping each other? How? Well, look at the passage. Watch each other's back. When we see things that need to be addressed, stop turning away - do whatever is necessary to get each other back on track. And when we do, forgive and forget the past. Welcome the straying brother/sister back into fellowship, without reservation. 

Do this, and the world will see that Jesus makes a difference. They may not like it - darkness has never done well around ther light. But maybe a few more of them will be attracted to a fellowship where people really love each other, love each other enough to keep them on track.

That's the church. And it is awesome.

Wasted?

Wanna see a good example of what makes the gospel of Jesus different from the world...different from what everyone around us thinks it takes to live a good life? Check out this meme, which I saw on Instagram last night:

A good, solid Christian message, right?

Not really.

The first part, okay. We definitely should not waste our lives on things that don't matter. The focus of life should be on people, relationships, and loving God. Those are things that matter.

But the second part? Well, it sounds good. Who wants to to waste time on people that don't appreciate it? What a waste.

Except that is exactly what Jesus did, and it's what separates true discipleship from a feel-good, me-first, get-me-to-heaven, meet-my-material-needs gospel.

This meme says, Love those who love you. Those who can and will return your affection.

Jesus said, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

The meme says, If they mistreat you, don't give them the time of day.

Jesus said, If they strike on one cheek, turn the other. If they ask you (unfairly) to carry their stuff one mile, volunteer to carry it two.

The meme is saying, You can only take so much. If they treat you as worthless, give up on them.

Jesus said, Forgive them over and over and over and.....(70 x 7).

And most importantly, Jesus put his words into action. He went to a cross and died for everyone, including millions and millions who reject him and say with their lives, You don't matter, Jesus. He died from them, and still pursues them desperately urging them to change their hearts and minds.

A waste? No, it's what God designed us for. And the way we can tell someone who is really captured by the Spirit of God is when they do "waste" their life on those who think they don't matter. That is not natural. Or more precisely, it's supernatural. Nobody would do that on their own; it takes the resurrection power of the Messiah living in them.

When is something wasted? Here's the perspective of a woman whom Jesus encountered:



What did you think of the meme?

The diversion

It was a trying time in the history of our country. One like no other.

I remember when I was middle school (or, as we called it then, junior high school) and I heard about Watergate. Are you too young to have experienced it? If so, surely you studied it in history classes. Over the course of about two years, we went from a back page story about a simple hotel burglary to a full-blown conspiracy that infected the top levels of our government. There were Congressional hearings. Special prosecutors. Resignations left and right. And finally, in an unprecedented scene, the President of the United States admitted his role and resigned.

Here's the thing about that period from June 17, 1972 to August 9, 1974: Our government could not focus on anything else. Every white house briefing was dominated by Watergate questions. No matter how much officials would try to talk about the economy or national security, the questions came back to Watergate. No other topics could compete.
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This is the dilemma we see in the little book of Jude, the next to last book of the Bible. It's a short letter, only 25 verses. When we think of the New Testament, the gospel, and Jesus, we think of love mercy and grace. And like other New Testament writers, Jude really wanted to focus on those things. But alas, the church was facing its own little Watergate...and it had to be addressed.

Beloved, even though I was very anxious to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were destined for condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

  - Jude 3-4, ESV; emphasis mine

See what I mean? He really wanted to write an upbeat letter. But there were things that needed to be said. Things that were corrupting the good. Two things in particular:

• The idea that grace allows people to do whatever they want, turning it into a license for sexual immorality, and 
• The idea that Jesus was just a good teacher, one way among many to God.

It's right there in the passage. This passage from the New Testament, which so many want to turn into a one note song: "Judge not."

The gospel is a wonderful thing, the best news ever. All of us who follow Jesus want to spend all out time proclaiming the love, mercy and grace that God has shown us through the cross. But there comes a time when we have to contend for the faith. So let me ask: do these two poisons sound familiar to you? Are they not the essence of some of the biggest hot buttons in our country right now?

The book of Jude reminds us that there are times that call for a firm response. Love is not waving cheerfully to our friends as they head toward a cliff. Jude says that sometimes love means having to take a stand. As he says in verses 22-23a: "Have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire."

Friends, you do not know how much I wish we could just talk about the gospel. But the metaphorical reporters keep asking about Watergate. So we've got to tell the truth.

That's love...which is so much greater than tolerance.

Which leads Jude back to where he wanted to go...

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25, ESV)

Powerful foolishness

But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."

- Luke 23:34, NASB

Paul refers to the cross of the Messiah as the foolishness of God, which is wiser than the wisdom of men (1 Corinthians 1:25). And no wonder. Because it does not make sense to us that we can conquer evil by suffering. By submission. By forgiveness. And yet there he is, on his way to his death, and he proclaims forgiveness for the ones pursuing his death. And by that act, he has conquered evil forever.

Many of these same themes were interwoven into last week's episode of The Walking Dead. Yeah, I know...

Wait, what?!?

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

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If you are one of the 16 million people who watched last Sunday, you know the background well. Our band of survivors in this zombie apocalypse have been on their own for at least a couple of years and have beaten the odds on all sorts of perils. But now they are face-to-face with a different challenge - a naive community (Alexandria) of people that have no idea of the danger outside their walls. How will they fit in? Will the things they have learned help them protect their new community? Or will it get them kicked out?

(For more, read a synopsis here.)

Well, the path to getting control of the situation was surprising.

• Glenn, who was there when his friend Noah was killed through the negligence and cowardice of Alexandria native Nicolas, confronts Nicolas out in the woods. Nicolas shoots Glenn in the shoulder, attacks him, and leaves him for dead as "walkers" pounce. Somehow, Glenn turns the tables and has Nicolas on the ground with a gun to his head. He has the power of revenge and maybe even justice right in his hands. But he lets Nicolas go. Forgiveness? Well, at least the first step.
• Sasha is still struggling with the deaths of her brother and her boyfriend, and is not handing it well. She comes face-to-face with Father Gabriel in the chapel, and two lost souls come face-to-face.
• Maggie recently overheard Gabriel condemn the entire group in a private conversation with Deanna, the leader of Alexandria. Somehow, she sees through his hypocritical actions and sees a lost and hurting man in desperate need of forgiveness. Reaching back to the faith her father taught her (and which she seemed to have lost for a while), she reaches out her hand - literally - and pulls Gabriel up. The three of them end up praying together:

• Then there's Morgan, whose connection with our group is a past connection with Rick Grimes. He helped Rick get his feet under him shortly after the world changed. When we last saw him, he seemed lost after facing the death of his son. But now, he has come to the conclusion that all life is precious. He rescued Daryl and Aaron from certain death, and seems to be on a mission to show you can survive and keep your humanity.

The name of the episode was "Conquer." That seems like a very strange name; there was no conquest in sight. Not in the traditional since. But.....

Glenn conquered his bitterness over Noah's death as he let Nicolas off the hook.

Sasha is at least on her way to conquering the deep hurt over the death's of Bob and Tyreese.

Maggie has conquered the hopelessness she felt after the deaths of her father and sister.

Maybe Gabriel is on the verge of conquering his shame. We'll see about that one.

And, as the people of Alexandria witness selfless sacrifice by these flawed characters, including Rick - who was out protecting them from intruding walkers when he could have been trying to save his own skin - our group seems to be conquering. Conquering fear, conquering mistrust, conquering the disconnect with their new community. Rick thought they would have to do it by force.

Not so much.

Forgiveness. Suffering. Sacrifice. Nor conquering by force, but conquering with love. Does that work? 

Is it foolishness to think so?

Which brings us back to Jesus. Love, self-sacrificing love, forgiving love, is the only thing that can conquer evil. And that's exactly what happened on the cross, when the King of the universe was crowned with thorns, bore our sins, and destroyed the works of the devil.

And then rose from the dead to claim that victory.

This is the foolishness of God, wiser than all our wisdom. Amen.

Go...and do what?

And Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

- Matthew 28:18-20

Anyone recognize that button?

If you you were born after 1960's, I doubt it. I was a senior in high school, and it was the lynchpin of a national plan to get Christians to "witness." We wore these buttons to school, put bumper stickers on our cars, and had a pocket full of tracts to help us talk people through the Good News.

So, according to the training (yes, there was training), conversations were to go like this:

"I found it!"
"What did you find?"
"New life in Jesus Christ."

Now, let me stop and say that I'm sure there are a lot of people who began their road to faith in Jesus with just such a conversation. Or by reading a "Chick Track" left on a restaurant table. And I personally know people who came to faith because of someone bold enough to share the Four Spiritual Laws with a stranger.

But as I read the passage and look at the level of commitment among those who profess the name of Christ, I wonder where we lost our way. Do we really believe that we can just follow a formula - like praying a specific prayer - and treat it as a guaranteed ticket to heaven? That it doesn't matter what we do after that?

A Gospel built around a formula and getting someone to walk through an exercise. What kinds of fruit has it produced?

Well.....

• We don't need to go to church and worship collectively with other believers. Faith is a personal thing, just between me and God. I don't need you, I prayed the prayer. I'm good, thanks.
• For that same reason, I don't want to force my beliefs on you.
• I can live however I want - after all, I prayed the prayer and punched my ticket years ago. I can live out my life full of envy, greed, sexual immorality, and all sorts of selfishness.
• My salvation is about my eternal destination - not about the glory of God here on earth. As long as I asked Jesus into my heart, that's all that matters. Check with you at the end, God.

But alas, that is not what Jesus commanded. He didn't tell us to go and convert people to a shallow religion that makes no difference in our lives. In fact, he condemned religious leaders who did so:

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one convert; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are."

- Matthew 23:15 

Ouch!

No, he commanded something much deeper. He came to announce God's kingdom, and the disciples were to be part of his mission to spread the glory of God throughout the earth. He said to make disciples - people who devote their lives. And for us to teach them to obey everything he commanded.

So, Christian, go. Go, not to accumulate notches on your belt for the number of people you got to walk through a conversion ritual. But go, live out the Gospel. Share your life with everyone around you. Tell them about Jesus, who through his death made it possible for us to come into God's presence. And teach them what it means to have true faith and repentance - and how a changed heart will enable them to love Jesus and obey what he taught.

And when that happens, we'll be a step closer to the goal.

Blessed be his glorious name forever;

may the whole earth be filled with his glory.

- Psalm 72:19

Go.

Calm in the storm

The winds howled. The waves roared. The sea was like a monster that had taken on a personality, and things did not look good. Almost everyone aboard was sure they were about to die.

And Jesus was sound asleep in the bottom of the boat. Asleep.

People die from storms. Remember this scene from A Perfect Storm?



Yes, the sea can be a vicious mistress.

And Jesus was asleep. Not worried at all.

Now here's the thing that struck me as I read the account from Mark's gospel tonight:

The others on the boat - his disciples - did not care at all for his attitude! Not. At. All.

You see, Jesus wasn't worried because he knew who was in charge. He was the one who had said, "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself," along with several other admonitions not to worry.

But his disciples came to him and cried, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"

To them, his nonchalant attitude could mean only one thing - he didn't care. They were about to die, and the one in whom they had put their trust didn't care.

JESUS, HOW CAN YOU JUST LIE THERE? HOW CAN YOU BE SO UNFEELING? WE'RE DYING HERE!

It's not easy to conquer worrying. None of us can do it in our own power. But when we do, when we successfully take Paul's advice to not worry about anything but pray about everything, people can get the wrong idea.

"You're too calm about this. You obviously don't care whether we get this done or not. At least not as much as I do."

Ever said that? Ever thought that? Well, you're in good company - that's just what the disciples said. to Jesus, of all people. It's human nature. When we are afraid, stressed out, angry...we want everyone to share our concern. If they don't, well, they don't care.
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As most of you know, Jesus did indeed care. He got up, rebuked the wind, and the sea calmed down. His lack of worry was a sign that he knew God is in control.

I think there's a lesson in that for me. It's natural for me to be like the disciples. When the storms are blowing, when the pressure is on, when things are not going right, my flesh says to lash out. Blame others. Make sure everybody is as miserable as me. But instead, next time I'm going to try to take it to the only one who can do anything about it.

The Lord of creation has got this, and I'm taking it to him.

Our little corner

Last week I saw something so incredible, I had to share it right away - so I put a link on my Facebook page. It still resonates with me, so...a little more about it.

We live in one of the bands of an indescribably big galaxy known as the Milky Way. There are around 300 billion stars in our galaxy. And (this boggles the mind) there are at least 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Well, the closest galaxy other than our own is visible in our night sky; it is known as Andromeda, and it is about 2.5 million light years away.

How far is that? Well, one light year is about 60,000 times as far away as the sun. So Andromeda is about 150 billion times as far away.

Wow!

So, as a kid who drew up fascinated with astronomy, seeing a 4 GB picture of Andromeda, zooming in on detail, was indescribably awe-inspiring. Here is a video that zooms in on a portion of the picture. If you realize what you're looking at, it'll take your breath away:



So far away. So big. And just the closest one out of billions.

I have heard many people say it makes them feel insignificant. They think it means our little corner of the universe is too small and too remote to be significant. That is not what I see at all. Instead, I marvel that God has singled out the earth to accomplish his eternal purposes.

This verse tucked away in Isaiah sums it up for me:

For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am the LORD, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:18 NASB)

First, why is the universe so big? How can the earth be significant when it is so big? Is God that wasteful?

By no means! God is so awesome, so powerful, so infinite that it takes this kind of vastness to even begin reflecting his glory. The universe was created for his glory, and its size, wonder, and complexity is the natural result of that. If anything, we might ask, why isn't it bigger? And maybe it is - maybe we're just beginning to see it.

Second, why is the earth so perfectly fitted for life?

It is a unique place...situated in a safe corner of our galaxy...the perfect distance from its sun (which give out just the right amount of heat and light)...tilted just right on its axis...with gravity just strong enough to support life. And I could go on and on and on. As Isaiah says, he formed it not to be a waste place, but to be inhabited. And so it is.

With us. Creatures he has chosen to love.

So I watch the video in awe. The heavens are indeed declaring the glory of God.

Yeah, I think I'll watch it again now.

Amen.

Candlelight 2014

Christmas Eve candlelight services have become very popular, and for good reason. On Christmas, those of us who follow Jesus actively look for ways we can worship. I think most of us, regardless of how close we feel to God on a daily basis, want to take some time for worship. In the midst of the bustle of Christmas, we want to remember the holy birth. And lighting candles in a dark auditorium to a song like Silent Night has a reverent tone that moves us.

So tonight there I was, singing in the choir at our church's service. It was awesome. As we sang about coming to worship the king (O Come All Ye Faithful) and what God was doing that night (Silent Night, O Holy Night), it was easy to overflow with thankfulness and love.

And then, the message took on a deeper meaning. For some reason, as the gospel story of Jesus' birth was being read (Luke 2:1-20), I looked around the sanctuary. There were well over 1500 faces looking up at me in the choir loft, and they all looked so similar. They were listening, nodding, smiling at times, and all seemed to be glad they were where they were. But I realized they were not similar. Every face was a unique individual, with their own story, with their own reason why the gospel resonates with them.

With that many people there, I know that almost any life situation you could imagine (at least in our American culture) was represented, although we all hide them very well. I looked around and imagined...

• That one has cancer, and he's scared to death.
• This one in front just lost his job, and doesn't know how he will support his family.
• Over there...she just wants someone to listen to her but nobody pays any attention.
• See him? He just went through a divorce, and it's killing him.
• This one is going to the hospital after the service to see her husband.
• The one to the right has children who won't speak to him anymore.
• That one thinks he has everything he needs, but his life is empty.

On and on and on and on...1500 people, and all of us are broken in some way. You don't even want to get me started on my brokenness. Are we just whistling in the dark? Are we going to church, pretending that everyone is alright, when we are dying inside?

Well, the fact that we are not identical, that we are all broken in our own ways, is why the good news of Christmas is so powerful. The Creator of the universe knows everything about our world, about the broken societies we've built, and the struggles of each one of us. But instead of holding his nose and walking away, he decided to mix it up with us. To come down into the middle of it, suffer through the mess of being human, and bring us healing by his own suffering.

 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11, ESV)

And so we gather. And light candles. And sing. Not just to God, but to each other. To remind ourselves that while we are broken, God loved us anyway. So much that the Son entered time and space to live among us, serve us, suffer, die, and rise from the dead.

It's not surface. It's as deep as it gets. Have you experienced this healing, the healing that God sent us at Christmas? That's my prayer for you...and for me. Have a blessed Christmas!