Grasping it

How big is the love of God? How deep is it and what are its limits?

It's easy to throw around terms like "infinite," "limitless," and "incomprehensible." But sometimes they are just words. They are what we are supposed to say abut God. But really, how big is his love for us? Is there a way that we can begin to grasp it?

My life experiences are limited. I have seen him work in my life, and I have seen a taste of how much he loves me. Everything I've experienced indicates that it's bigger than I can know. But how can I know more?

With the help of a book I read recently (How People Change), I saw something in Paul's letter to the Ephesians that helped me see a better way to grasp his love. Here is the relevant passage, with the key phrase highlighted:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name…I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpassed knowledge - that you may be filled with measure to the fullness of God.

- Ephesians 3:14-15, 17-19 (NIV, italics mine) 

Yes, that's it! Paul is telling the Ephesians that the best chance we have of understanding God's love for us is together. Life is not meant to be lived solo, and following Jesus is not meant to be a solo project. we need each other. So how does this work?

Well, as the book I referenced above points out (I'm not smart enough to think of this on my own), it's kind of like how a jury relies on twelve different minds to reach a verdict based on a full understanding of truth. When we are doing life together with other followers of Jesus, we get the benefit of each other's perspective on Christ's love.

One person has been brought through incredible suffocating grief from suddenly losing family to the great enemy, death. Another has been freed from a powerful addiction. Still another has seen God's grace repair a seemingly broken marriage. This one has lost everything financially and had to depend on God for their needs, and that one has been freed from an attitude of pride over the things of the world. On and on it goes.

When we gather with other believers and share our stories, when we are open with each other, we see so much more of the picture. We see how the love of Jesus is indeed sufficient for every circumstance, seeing so much more that we could know on our own. In How People Change, Lane and Tripp put it like this:

Not only are we strengthened in our individual growth in grace, but the entire body is built up by a fuller sense of the power and hope of God's grace! The Christian life is not less than individual, but it is so much more.

And so I am thankful to my brothers and sisters in Christ. Every time they share what is going on in their journey and allow me to pray with them, even time they allow my to help bear their burdens, every time they listen, pray, and cry with me - they show me a little more of Christ's love. His love is too big to be grasped, even together. But knowing him - really knowing him - is a group venture.

And so, as Paul concludes in Ephesians 3:21…

To him be glory in the the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Keeping it going

Yesterday the Alabama softball team captured the championship of the Tuscaloosa Super Regional, and they are bound for the softball college world series. Again.

Three years ago, the Tide was a win away from the championship series before running into a red hot Florida team. And then, two years ago, they won it all on a memorable night complete with rain delays, a comeback, and plenty of drama.

Now, after falling short last year, they're going back.

It wasn't easy. Friday night I sat through one of the most tense dramatic games imaginable. Bama fell behind 4-0 early, and scratched their way back to win after 12 innings and almost five hours of softball. But the remarkable thing about that game was the play of the freshmen:

• After senior Jackie Traina had one of her rare nights struggling to pitch, freshman Sydney Littlejohn came in and pitched 8 scoreless innings. 
• In the bottom of the 7th (the last inning in softball), freshman Marisa Runyon blasted a shot over the wall to tie the game. on to extras…
• And then the game ended when freshman Peyton Grantham hit another blast.

As I thought more about the game, I thought about the key players in the championship two years ago. Some of them have moved on to their post college lives: players like Kayla Braud, Courtney Conley, Kendall Dawson, and Amanda Locke. Others are about to end their careers at Alabama and turn the team over to the "kids": players like Kaila Hunt, Molly Fichtner, and Jackie Traina. So it's good to see the young ones stepping in and showing the potential for the future.

You know, it's kind of like life. We all have a very limited time on this earth. The 75 years or so that we average is but a breath; we are here today and gone tomorrow. Time will, as the Indigo Girls song says, "make history of us." There is so much to be accomplished, so many people to help, and such a need for us to spread God's love and enhance the kingdom of his Son.

So it's good sometimes to sit back and realize that it's all part of a much greater plan enfolding over thousands of years, under the direction of a very patient God. Like Alabama's seniors, I need to work hard, prepare hard, and do all I can. But when I am done, others will step in and probably do even better. Others like my nephew and nieces, like the young people I have met through YoungLife, and like the children of my friends. Lie those Tide freshmen softball players, they are stepping to the plate and I know they will hit it out of the park.

So, anyway….softball. Yeah, great series. Now let's take home another championship. Roll Tide!

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

WARNING : CONTAINS SPOILERS

A few days ago I went to see the latest telling of the story of the amazing Spider-Man. This is a story I have loved for most of my life. I remember reading the comic books and watching the TV cartoon for hours as a child. I would dress up and pretend to be Spider-Man. (In fact, dressing up and playing superheroes was something I spent way too much time doing.)

As I got older, I appreciated something about the Spider-Man legend that made it different from other superheroes I liked. I realized that this was the story of a young man - really a teenager - who was confused about life and how to deal with it. Raised by his aunt, never knowing his parents, trying to figure out how to have a girlfriend and a double life…Peter Parker is a conflicted character. Which makes him a great subject for a story.

I loved the movie series that starred Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, and the first installment of the new movie series was, in my opinion, even better.

I even enjoyed the Broadway musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark. Although I was definitely in the minority on that.

But this movie. What I really, really loved about it was something that a lot of people hated. The ending.

LAST WARNING!
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When Gwen (Emma Stone) fell down that clock tower and Spider-Man's attempt to save her failed, it was one of the most powerful moments I've seen in this type of movie. It felt real, and it was heartbreaking. Then watching him visit her grave for months, and watch the video of her graduation speech…seeing her memory inspire him to keep going in honor of her memory. That was the stuff life is made of.

Really, this movie was about facing death and how we handle it. Peter (Andrew Garfield) learning about his parents and processing that, the things he learned from Aunt May about how she moved on from Uncle Ben's death - they all came together when all of sudden Gwen was snatched away from him.

Death is our greatest enemy. It snatches those we love away and suddenly our lives are never the same. Thankfully, it is a defeated enemy, but that's the subject for other posts (like this one). The point from this movie was: It's real, we have to accept it, and we have to process it so that we can live productive lives.

Jesus has the last word over death. But while death is allowed to continue its doomed reign, we can - and must - go on living.

Yes, movies with happy endings are awesome. We all like happy endings. But in life, there is heartache. And I love a movie that reminds us of that and helps us process it. This was a good one.

Do something…it makes a difference

What do you think is the leading cause of apathy? There are lots of reasons.

Self-absorption.

Too busy.

Lack of knowledge.

But I think the biggest reason for apathy is that people have come to believe it doesn't make any difference anyway. For example, people don't vote because they think one vote is meaningless.

Well, a recent study by the Barna Group indicates that this is the case with world poverty. People don't want to try because they think it's pointless. But the study also indicates that they are wrong.

How so? In the last 30 years, the percentage of people living in extreme poverty has dropped from 52% to 31%. However, 2/3 of Americans think it has increased.

A summary of the study can be found here:

Global Poverty Is on the Decline, but Almost No One Believes It

I encourage you to read the article slowly, and digest what it is saying. But even if you do not, the bottom line is this:

The fight against world poverty is making a difference. It's not a hopeless cause. So please realize that you can make a difference. And if you are a follower of Jesus, it's your responsibility to do your part.

So..let's get to it.

Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?" The King will answer and say to them, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." (Jesus, in Matthew 25:37,40 [NASB])