Go Play

We took our son to a splash park tonight at a local mall, totally on a whim.  We knew he'd have a blast, so we finished up at our restaurant and promised that a "surprise" awaited him.  He was excited and very, very curious.  When he saw the fountains springing from the concrete and the myriad of children laughing, running, and playing, he knew just what he wanted to do.  With widened eyes, he said with extreme excitement, "Where's my SWIMSUIT, I wanna PLAY!"  His joy gave us joy.  We said, "don't worry about a swimsuit, we'll just dry you off in the car.   Go and play!"

Micah was a little bewildered. "But I'll get wet...I need my swimsuit."  He knows that getting his clothes wet is a no-no at home, but in the midst of his worry about breaking our rules, he wasn't embracing that the rule-makers were giving him permission to go and play.  He kept fretting about getting wet.  We said "go and play!"  He walked cautiously to the first fountain and gingerly stuck his toe into it, cautiously scanning our faces for the go-ahead.  Our smiles and nods told him that it was time to put his leg into the spewing water cannon emanating from the ground.  We said "go and play!"  He looked at us again, searching for permission to break the rules.  We again nodded and smiled.  We said "go and play!"  He interpreted this final nod as the greenlight for Operation Splashbody, running full-bore into the drenching center of the park: a pumping, pulsing urban geyser which soaks anyone who comes near.  He no longer looked for our approval of every step.  He finally stopped thinking of the rules and started listening to the call of the rule-maker: "Go and play!"

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. - Psalm 37:4

We do the same thing with God all the time!  How often do we Christians spend so much time seeking to follow "the rules"...don't do this, don't do that.  Don't drink, don't chew, and don't date the girls that do.  Rules are good guidelines.  Drinking can be harmful.  Chewing tobacco can lead to a lifetime of health problems.  Dating women who do both of these things will almost certainly result in a relationship full of second-hand bad breath.  So it's good to be wary of these things.  However, we can get so focused on the rules that we forget the Rule-Maker.  The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that "the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."  As long as we're doing the first, we can be fully and finally free to do the second.  When we mature in Christ, we can stop focusing on the rules and start focusing on delighting ourselves in God and then just "go play."

Instead of following rules, why don't we spend our energies on loving God and developing greater intimacy with our Father...and then just doing whatever brings the greatest joy to our hearts?  I wonder if we would be more generous, more joyful, more filled with the Holy Spirit...if we would lean into Him and then just go play.

Dreams from God

"For he says, 'In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." - 2 Corinthians 6:2

I had an interesting dream last night.  I wanted to write this right after I woke up so I'd remember it as clearly as possible.  I dreamed that I took a friend of mine named Shane to a church small group I was leading. I had invited him several times and he came out of curiosity.  I can't remember the exact passage we were studying in my dream (such details fade quickly) but it was something that was a reminder of the need for integrity and humility in the Church.  I remember discussing the quote from Brennan Manning: "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

It seemed to impact Shane and on our ride home we had a great conversation.  Remember, this is a dream, so in wacky-dream-world style, we started off in a limousine which morphed into a Town Car which morphed into a horse-drawn carriage by the end of the ride.  Shane was quiet much of the ride home, giving me just a few answers that showed he was thinking intensely about what he had seen and heard.  I was happy.  Happy that I'd finally invited a friend to church who really needed to hear the message being presented.  Happy that a friend who was one of the most intelligent people I have ever known, who is also one of the most ardent atheists I had ever known, was willing to come hear me pour out my heart for Jesus and preach the gospel in a way that spoke to him.

I awoke happy, as if the events of my dream had actually occurred.  Then, as the fog of sleep began to lift, my mind focused on reality.  Shane, my oh-so-intelligent atheist friend since first grade and a man I was always timid about inviting to church or talking about Jesus with, committed suicide a few years ago.  He jumped in front of a speeding commuter train in a desperate move to end his daily battle with a bitter depression.  Regret immediately filled me.  It is too late for Shane, but who else is out there who needs not a Bible-bash upside the head, but rather a compassionate presentation of Christ's love and perhaps also a verbal presentation of the gospel?  Lord, may I never wait until it's too late again.

"For he says, 'In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." - 2 Corinthians 6:2

Resist the Slow Fade

I definitely think it's a sign of the times that our world is routinely rocked by scandal.  It may be that we are on a morally downward slope, degrading more and more into complete moral free-for-all and absolute boundary-less-ness.  Or, it may be that we are simply more attentive to the faults and foibles of public figures, with so many news outlets desperate for a juicy tidbit, a morsel of gossip to feed the voracious 24-hour news cycle.  Sensation sells, and few things are more sensational than a person or organization who betrays the public's trust for personal gain.  Regardless of the reason, scandal has become sadly commonplace.

One touched me more deeply recently.  A public service organization in the same city where I work has been accused of some heinous stuff...like federal indictment heinous.  Using federal funds for personal purposes is a huge no-no. The person at the center of it all is someone I have worked with for years, a colleague whom I collaborated with on several projects and was very well-respected in our field.  She's not a friend per se, but definitely someone close enough to me that her accused actions hit me like a brick.  How could she do this, and risk her job, reputation, and a career over 30 years in the making?

It was ironic that when I read the first article about the scandal my Pandora app chose to play Casting Crowns' "Slow Fade".  The chorus goes like this: It's a slow fade when you give yourself away / a slow fade when black and white will turn to grey / thoughts invade, a choice is made / a price will be paid when you give yourself away / people never crumble in a day.  If you've never heard this song before, you owe it to your conscience to listen to it enough to memorize it.  It's my personal integrity soundtrack, a constant reminder that we are all vulnerable to the wiles of temptation.

I looked at the trouble my colleague has gotten into and I thought "what was she thinking?"  I rushed to judge her.  But the more I thought about it, she more than likely got caught into the slow fade.  It begins with a thought, which becomes an attitude, which becomes an action, which becomes a habit, which becomes a character.  What thoughts could have sparked this slow fade?  Here's a few I can think of:

1. It could never happen to me
2. I'd never get caught
3. Others do much worse things
4. I deserve better than what I'm getting
5. I'm too powerful / in a hurry for the rules to apply to me
6. I need this money/power/desire, and I don't have time to get it the right way

I think the answer to resisting the slow fade is to focus ourselves and dedicate ourselves fully to a singular focus.  The Slow Fade happens when our focus is diluted, when our worries become too heavy to handle.  The key is to solidify our focus on God and His righteousness so intensely that we don't have time to think on unethical things.  There's so much more to say on this, but Solomon wrapped it up in a nutshell:

"Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, whoever takes crooked paths will be found out." - Prov 10:9

Can't Let Up

You can win or be safe but you can't do both.  But what happens when you win?

At my job this week, we had a big win.  An external auditor known for toughness was evaluating one of the social services programs run by our agency.  She represented the program's biggest funding source, so a positive review was of the highest importance.  Our team prepared long and hard for the big review, knowing that the auditor's opinion could translate into the program's doom or its survival.  As the program's manager, her opinion could translate into a similar fate for me.  If it goes well, accolades galore.  If not, the pink slip may be in the mail.  That may be a bit over-dramatic, but my reputation was definitely on the line.

We spent a week under the auditor's expert microscope, poring through details of program operations, management, fund expenditures, outcomes, and much much more.  After five full days of living under her watchful eye, the auditor delivered her results to senior management.  To our relief, she had nothing but glowing remarks.  It was the best audit she'd had in twenty years, without any findings or concerns, and she will highlight our program as a "best practice" program for others to draw examples from.  Couldn't have been a better outcome!

As I entered our staff meeting the next morning, I thought "Great!  What now?"  We had spent so much energy and time focusing on the win, and now that we had it...what's next?  Many times in my life I have over-celebrated my wins, relishing the win and allowing it to lull me into a lackadaisical slumber that I believe I have "earned".  I generally take the time to slow down and savor the victory (which is fine), but I slow down so much that I stop doing the things that gained me victory in the first place (which is stupid).

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:13-14

What I'm learning is that to keep from losing after a win we must (1) celebrate the win and (2) refocus on the mission.  At the meeting, I said to my team, "We won last week.  Big time."  We handed out compliments and gifts for the staff involved in the audit all throughout that week.  We celebrated.  But while we celebrated we reminded each other that the work is not over.  In multiple meetings throughout the week we reminded each other of what we are here to do.  "We did well in the audit," I said, "but we are not here to do well in audits.  We don't get up in the morning excited about beating audits.  We came here to help people."  It was a great moment for our team that I hope will result in us never letting up, but keep going and doing the things that made us great to start with.

In our walk with Jesus, we will experience victories.  When a friend meets Jesus for the first time, or a family conflict is resolved, or we conquer a financial debt, it is tempting to relax.  But friends need discipling, families need encouraging, and budgets need maintaining.  There's always work to be done to ensure future wins.  Because to Christians, there was a HUGE win 2000 years ago when Jesus took the nails with our name on them, but we look forward to an even greater win when He comes back to put all things aright in God's kingdom.  We strain toward the next win with all the intensity we can muster, knowing the next win is in sight...for you, for me, for all of us.  So, what "win" are you praying for?  

Safety First?

I went paintballing for the first time today.  I had no idea what to expect...I'd been hit with laser tag lasers hundreds of times but dreaded an actual projectile coming into contact with my skin.  They told us in the orientation that a paintball travels at 200 miles per hour and that heightened my anxiety.  Really, I was not afraid of the pain so much as I was afraid that the pain would be so great as to turn me into a wussy liability to my team.  When we heard the ref yell "GO GO GO!" at our first game, I rushed to cover and started trying to shoot.  Emphasis: trying.  The trigger wouldn't engage because I had the safety on.  Safety off, I started firing at targets and missing by a mile.  Then when my buddy got hit, I took over his position...for like twenty seconds.  That's when a tiny orange ball of death hurtled through the air at breakneck pace and made contact with...my neck.  "OW!", I screamed, and sauntered off the field in defeat.

That shot hurt.  But honestly, it wasn't that bad and it was way worse than I expected.  Also, I knew if I kept living in fear of getting shot our team would never win.  A voice spoke in my head, "You can win or you can be safe, but you can't do both."  With each progressive game I went further and further, getting shot every time and weathering it...shot in the kidney, in the mouth, in the arm.  It hurt every time, but every hit made me bolder to face the next one, too.

My favorite moment of the day was at a location which featured a line of several wooden buildings about a hundred yards long and a burned-out truck in the center.  It was a capture-the-flag game, with flags on either side of the truck; our flag was on the side of the truck opposite our base.  The area around the truck was a killing field, surrounded by elevated positions only a few yards away.  I had already gotten hit trying to flank to the right and quickly grab the flag from a covered position a couple of yards away; I got hit in the arm but shot the other guy in the face.  But that wasn't the coolest part, not by far.  After we had softened the opposition's defenses a little bit, my teammate Craig ran out of ammo, but didn't run out on the fight.  He came near the truck in a covered position and then, with a burst of courage, broke cover and dove into the truck.  There was a piece of corrugated metal which floored the inside of the burned-out hunk of junk.  In a moment of quick thinking, Craig grabbed it and used it as a shield, inching forward under a hail of paint pellets.  Every enemy defender's gun was focused on Craig, who was inches away from their flag.  Exposing his hand for a brief moment, Craig snatched the flag back into the rusted vehicle, again using his makeshift shield, and still being pummeled by dozens of paint-filled bullets.  When he reached our side of the field, he yelled for suppressing fire and got none.  It was sad to see his moment of valor rewarded by five shots to the chest when he dropped his shield to run for cover.

It was awesome to see Craig's courage, his focus on winning the game, whatever the cost to him.  Even if we lost (which we did), I was uplifted by his show of valor.  I figured we didn't have enough guys to give Craig the cover he needed, but at least we tried.  But my spirits were dampened immediately after the game ended, as I saw five guys walk out of the bunker thirty yards away from Craig's desperate stand, with clips nearly full of ammo.  They desired safety more than the win.

"You can win or be safe, but not both."  As Christians we are in a struggle every day to win others to Christ. We believe the stakes are high.  But many of us (myself too often included) hang out with each other far away from the action, full of knowledge and talent but too afraid of the sting of rejection to use them.  We choose to be safe and lose rather than be risky and win.  In seasons where I have been both in sharing my faith, I found that the rejection and awkwardness that comes with it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be and that the more I shared my faith the easier I found it to be bold, just like my paintball experience.  Are Christians living too much with a "safety first" mindset?  Are most of us hanging out in the safe zone while people perish in the killing field every day?  Perhaps I need to drop my desire to be safe and take a few hits for the sake of the kingdom, remembering that the win is more important than anything.

Living the Dark

There's nothing more scary than darkness.  I ditched my night light ages ago, but even now there are few things that give me the heebie-jeebies more than a pitch-black room, a vast unnavigable unknown that just begs for someone to throw the switch.  You can never have confidence in the darkness.  I am reminded of that harrowing scene in "Silence of the Lambs" where Clarice Starling is caught in a perfectly dark basement with a serial killer hunting her.  The camera shoots from the perspective of the killer's green-hued night vision goggles and stalks the heroine as, frightened to her wit's end, she gropes the walls searching for light, guidance, direction, anything to get her out of the hell of the unknown while death lurks only inches away.

Any religious system outside of Jesus Christ is darkness, plain and simple.  This is an offensive statement.  Any system, be it Buddhist, atheist, animist, Taoist, Islamist, or anything-ist that is outside of Christ is summed up in this word "DO."  There is some list of things you must "do"  to be happy, healthy, wise, enlightened, or whatever gets you to the end-goal.  Here's another offensive statement: we all live in a religious system.  Even the irreligious have their own religion!

We are also all born into spiritual darkness, inheriting a disease called Sin from our forebears which touches every part of our lives.  I remember the dark.  I lived there for 16 years.  Christians use the term "lost" to describe those living in darkness, and it was an apt description for me.  I often felt like I was living in a fog, not knowing why I was doing anything I was doing.  Why work hard at school?  The promise of college, money, and a better life were far-off abstractions.  Why go to church?  My parents dragged me there every week, and I hated it.  What's the point of living at all?  I didn't feel like there was more to life than the daily drudgery of school, home, church, family, blah blah blah.

All of us lived in the darkness and have tried with futility to find a way out.  Do you remember it?  If you don't, know that it is a horrible place to be.  The Land of "Do" is harsh, unforgiving, lonely, and quite hopeless.  Who do you know who lives in the dark?  How can we everyday be a little light to them, while not succumbing to the darkness ourselves?

Max Power

Of the like five Simpsons episodes I've ever seen, I remember the one where Homer Simpson changes his name to "Max Power".  It was about wanting to change your identity, to become so much cooler than who you are.  Homer believed that walking around with a moniker that bled awesomeness would make him more confident and successful than the bland name he'd been given at birth.

Recently, I've gotten more in touch with a great podcast from Antioch Community Church that is rekindling my desire for "Max Power" in my life. More specifically, Pastor Jimmy Seibert is reminding me that as a follower of Christ, the greatest power on Earth is available to us every single day, the power of the Holy Spirit.  Some get carried away with the Spirit and become obsessed with the idea of miraculous spiritual power, focusing on it to the exclusion of other major areas of discipleship.  Others ignore the idea of the miraculous activity of the Holy Spirit altogether.  Usually, the latter is in favor of saying that the Holy Spirit's activity ended when the Bible was canonized, as if publishing the Word of God was the final act of the Spirit of God.

I have been reminded this week that the Word and the Spirit work together in awesome and sometimes surprising ways.  First, it is important recognize the supreme authority of God's Word in all matters of faith and practice.  It is the plumb line of truth and falsehood, of godliness and heresy.  It is the source of spiritual truth, wherein God has invested the full potential of His grace, love, mercy, and truth.  It is the truth that sets us free, the light for our path, and the sword which pierces every part of us.  If any experience we attribute to God or His Spirit does not line up with His Word, it may be discarded as absolute rubbish.

Second, we need to know that God's Spirit is still very much active today.  I know this through theological understanding and practical experience.  I have seen miracles which no scientist or doctor can explain.  I have known men who have risen from the dead, seen injuries heal instantly, and have even seen food multiply.  In the past I have told unbelieving friends that "if God doesn't exist, then I must be absolutely insane" because I cannot explain these things without Him.  Anyway, I know the Spirit is active, and that He is not restricted only to direct quotations of Scripture.  The Spirit's voice speaks to us today, in pictures, emotions, words, dreams, opportunities...in all these He draws us closer to Himself.

If we want to experience "Max Power" in our walk with God, we must be attuned both to His Word and His Spirit.  I saw a picture of this earlier in the week.  I'm disassembling a brick grill in my backyard right now, brick by brick.  It sometimes is necessary to pry a brick loose from its moorings in the grill.  When I pry, I use direct force but I also use leverage.  You see, I don't have a great deal of brute strength (I'm working on it, OK?), but I can use the power of leverage to do what strength alone can't accomplish.  I can apply direct force to the brick, but my leverage can magnify that force exponentially.

Here's how I see it.  When it comes to life change needed to set us free to fully and completely worship God, the Word of God supplies the direct force, and the Spirit of God supplies leverage.  God's power is vested into His Word and the Spirit directs us to apply His Word at just the right time, right place, and right person to work His maximum power.  I think that's why we can read the same Scripture passage ten times and walk away with ten different things...the Spirit speaks what we need to hear each time.  He also speaks to us when someone else needs to hear His Word, too, allowing us to minister in His eternal power and not just out of our own temporal wisdom and experience.

Are you looking for "max power" in your life, just like Homer was?  I think we need to be in the Word of God, taking it deep into our hearts through regular reading, study, and memorization.  Then we need to listen to the Spirit of God give us a target and apply His force accordingly.  We won't always get it right, but I believe by practicing hearing the Word and delivering it to ourselves and others, His power will be at maximum in us.

Dealing with the Dumps

The other day, I was in "the dumps".  You know what I mean, that time when you are feeling down, but you're not crying-in-your-Wheaties depressed...just flat, emotionless, numb-to-the-world-but-still-functional kind of funk.  Things just weren't right.  And I wasn't sure how to fix it.  Now, I've been working (not very hard) on losing weight, so I'm still a little addicted to food.  When I drove past some red, poultry-styled scrollwork and my 3 year-old squealed "Chicken Flay!", I was very tempted to blow twenty bucks on some fried goods which would undoubtedly temporarily reduce my blues but less-temporarily inflate my waistline.  I passed it up, and as I munched on a good old peanut butter and honey sandwich I wondered if there was a better way to deal with a case of the dumps.

As I read in my time with God today, Moses had a similar issue and handled it poorly.  In Numbers 20:1-13, Moses and Aaron are handling a bevy of complaints from the some-odd 2 million Israelite nomads they are leading through the desert.  The people are screaming and whining that their food isn't good enough and there isn't enough water.  God then miraculously makes a way for Moses to bring forth water from a rock near a place called Meribah by simply speaking to the rock...how cool is that?  But Moses doesn't give God credit and just hits the rock.  God still made water flow from the rock in a crazy-awesome show of his power and love but Moses and Aaron are punished for not following instructions.

I'm sure Moses was having a pretty cruddy day. I'm sure he was tired.  I'm sure he was frustrated.  Plus, his sister just died so he was grieving.  Moses was in the dumps, in a big way.  But when God gave him a way out of his dumpy situation, he decided not to pay attention.  Striking the rock was done in an act of upset frustration: "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?!"  I'm sure this gushing rock rewarded Moses with a few "oohs" and "aahs", but it put distance between him and the One who could've fixed the whole thing, and not only did he regret it for the rest of his life, this Meribah Mess was highlighted for generations as a famous failure of faith.

When the dumps descend, it's tempting to go for the easy fix, especially the one you do on your own.  Like an addict who thinks they can just "white knuckle" it instead of hitting up the AA group, we think that the situation we worked ourselves into we can work ourselves out of.  We forget that we need a Savior, and not just to go to heaven when we die.  We need a Savior when the budget is covered in red ink.  We need a Savior when our spouse isn't giving us the love/respect/time we think we deserve.  We need a Savior when we're burned by church.  We need a Savior when the car won't start, when the A/C goes out, when the promotion doesn't come, and when the diagnosis does.  We need a Savior, every day.

The dumps are an opportunity to return to the One who created happiness, fulfillment, and satisfaction.  Run to Him, listen to Him, and follow instructions.  It's the longest lasting dumps defense I know.

The Cure for Heart-Sickness

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." - Proverbs 13:12

I am often amazed by people who say "I'm thirsty!" and reach for a Coke. They seek to satisfy thirst with a drink that will only make them more thirsty! Our hearts get sick when things don't turn out the way we think they should. Our hearts get sick when our hearts are set upon circumstances working out as we hope they do. But many of us try to alleviate that sickness through exercising greater self-control.

What if our desires shifted? What if instead of wishing for greater control over our lives and the ability to mold and shape out families, careers, churches in our preferred image we looked to God as the source of our hope? Happy circumstances are sometimes absent, but God never is. If our hope is in Him, our heats never have to be sick. If you don't like your job, take it to God and see what He is teaching you...do not leave until you have learned everything He had to teach you there. If your paycheck doesn't have enough zeroes for your taste, seek enjoyment and contentment in God to help you live simply so that God's passions rather than dollar signs would guide your career decisions. If your family is in chaos rally around the cross and seek together the hope that is available day in and day out. 

He will never leave not forsake us, and He is always there to provide relief for our heart-sickness, if we will stop drinking Coke and come to the living water to slake our thirst.

Zzzzzzzz

OK, I've been offline like crazy in these blog posts.  I am committing to putting something up every week this year.  That's 52 posts, people, and I'm already like a week behind!  I hope that whatever is written here will inspire, entertain, and generally lighten those who read it...praying for good inspiration this year!  Anyway, thanks to anyone who takes a gander here, and if you like what you see, I promise you'll see more of it in 2013.  Peace and Amen!

Dealing with Opposition

"Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.

At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen." - 2 Timothy 4:14-18

Whenever you're doing something right, there will be opposition. Count on it. Jesus said that in this world we will have trouble, Paul said that anyone who wants to live a godly life in Jesus will be persecuted, and the explicit promise of suffering for living a gospel life is in all books of the New Testament except for one (1 Timothy...but 2 Timothy makes up for it by mentioning suffering in every chapter!).

1. We will encounter opposition. But how do we deal with it? Paul gives a great example here:
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1. He calls out the opposition leader by name, but leaves all the others out of it. This is not to spite the man, but to warn everyone else that he's trouble. He's not trying to hurt the individual, but rather protect the community.
2. He forgives: "May it not be held against them." Like Jesus on the cross and Stephen under the stones, he prays for his enemies' forgiveness. Who have you been conflicting with? Try praying that prayer.
3. He relies upon God for restoration and rescue.
4. He stays committed to the mission. He didn't let conflict drift his focus. No matter what, the Gentiles were going to hear the gospel from his lips!

If you're living for Christ, you will be opposed today. It would be naive to expect that your company, your gym, your family, and even your church will always rejoice when you take bold steps for Christ. So live for the gospel. And when you are opposed, take Paul's example to heart. Peace and Amen.

We Don't Understand Grace

"After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." - Acts 15:7-11

Most Christians don't understand grace; I know I don't understand grace most of the time. It's easy to condemn these Pharisaic Christians in Acts 15, but in their defense, they had never heard of grace. Jesus taught it to the disciples, but these guys had never picked up that teaching.

Grace means that the gift of salvation comes from Christ alone. You mustn't be circumcised to be saved, you mustn't be circumcised to remain saved. Paul says in three different places that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. Do you know how HUGE that is? To the Jews, circumcision was everything! They would have said, "my great-grandfather was persecuted/killed/stoned/imprisoned for his circumcision...how dare you say it means nothing!"

But there is a new tradition emerging. Circumcision was the old covenant; Jesus is the new covenant. Loyalty to Christ is the symbol of inclusion in the people of God; He alone is the mark of a believer. That's easy for most of us Gentiles to swallow, since we've never been taught to fiercely defend circumcision. But you could say this about any spiritual practice. "Neither reading the Bible nor not reading the Bible means anything." "Neither going to church nor not going to church means anything." "Neither praying nor not praying means anything." Does that rile you up a little? What does count, then? What must we do to be accepted by God?

That's where grace comes in. Believe in Jesus. Follow Him. Religion is spelled D-O; God's way is spelled D-O-N-E. It's not about you, or what you do. It's about what Christ has done. Paul is clear in those three passages about what that looks like. He says in all three that circumcision/uncircumcision is meaningless, but:

· "Keeping God’s commands is what counts." (1 Cor 7:19)

· "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Gal 5:6)

· "what counts is the new creation." (Gal 6:15)

We must stop focusing on the little actions we think make God love us, and instead focus on the fact that we are already loved and say to the Lord, “I will do whatever it takes to follow Jesus today.” For some that means praying for an hour straight. For others it’s memorizing the Bible. For others it’s joining a church. For most of us, it’s all of the above and more. Don’t pretend to be someone else’s Holy Spirit. Listen to the Spirit and follow Jesus.

Lord, may we live in Your Grace today, not using it as an excuse for sin, but reveling in it as we grow closer to You day by day. Amen!

Waterskiing without a Boat

"Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith,' he said, 'why did you doubt?'" - Matthew 14:31

Lord, how many times You must ask this question of me every day! "Why did you doubt?"

Peter was doing fine in verse 29, but then began to fear the wind. Matthew says he "saw" the wind. When did you last see any wind? Wind is invisible, Peter! But I think Matthew is using language to get at something more than just seeing with the eyes. The wind dredged up fear and doubt, reminded him that he had no business walking on water, that there's no reason this should work. All the thoughts that kept the other 11 on the boat attacked Peter in the wind, and he removed his focus from Jesus to his perceived problems.

What's funny is that the wind dies down as soon as they get in the boat. Did Jesus make the wind come to test Peter, or was it just coincidence? We'll never know. But either way, I think Peter's downfall was that he didn't EXPECT the wind to come. The sea is a very windy place, so why was he surprised and scared that wind should blow against him?

Likewise, we should never expect smooth sailing as believers. Jesus promised that "in this world you will have trouble," and in the Beatitudes guaranteed that those who live righteously will find opposition. Don't make Peter's mistake. Expect the wind before you walk on water! Focus on Jesus in the midst of difficulty. The sailing won't be smooth, but that's a part of the adventure with Jesus.

Lord, I WILL encounter trouble today. Fix my eyes upon you all the way through. Amen!

The Most Chilling Verses in Scripture

"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 in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’" - Jesus, Matthew 7:22-23

Imagine heaven. Throngs of people worshiping God for eternity, forever embraced by the fullness of His presence, fulfilling their purpose to enjoy Him into infinity. Jesus comes to judge your eternal destiny. You know that you spent years teaching that junior high Sunday School class, memorizing verses for Kingdom Kidz, and making it to youth group whenever there was free food. Of course, there were a few crazy years in college, and you pretty much didn't even think about God after that. Come to think of it the only reason you went to church in the first place was because Katrina West went there...man, she was hot. Anyway, you know that you've been a good person and have been around Christians for a long time. You've done your part.

You step up to Jesus, and you prepare your spiel. When you're done giving your defense, He looks at you right in the eyes. His eyes are direct, resolute, yet missing the sternness that you're used to seeing from your disappointed parent. Sternness is replaced with compassion, longing, and...pain. "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoer."


You have a flash of anger. You dare not show it, being surrounded by a throng of scary-looking angels, but it's there all the same. "BUT I WAS A GOOD PERSON!", you want to shout with righteous indignation. However, one look at those compassionate eyes convinces you not to say it. Something tells you that He knows your heart anyway. Something tells you that He knew it all along. After a moment of internal protest, you realize that He's right, and you deserve whatever you are going to get.

You didn't realize until that fateful moment, when eternity hung in the balance, when "My way or Jesus' way" was no longer a daily choice, that everything, everything is about Him. You thought it was about you. Even church, even your marriage...it was all about you. Before you turn away, you only have one thing to say to the Lord. "I wish someone would have told me it was going to be like this."

Is this you, or someone you know? Friends don't let friends deny Jesus. Love someone toward the Kingdom today...you'll have eternity to worship God, but not to evangelize. Lord, may Your Word sober us into living as a light in the darkness!

Cool Little Poem

Got this in an e-mail forward and actually liked it. God's grace is so good...

When I say that 'I am a Christian', I am not shouting that 'I am clean
living. I'm whispering 'I was lost, but now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride. I'm
confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong. I'm
professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success. I'm
admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect. My flaws
are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain. I have
my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a
simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow!

Midas Church

I have spent several years in professional ministry and lay volunteer ministry at several different evangelical churches. Though I have been a member at a couple of "megachurches", the lion's share of my intense involvement has been with smaller churches that always seem to struggle. At the latter, we had staffs who loved God, loved people, and worked hard, just like in the larger churches, but our hard work was rarely rewarded with success. I know that word really irks some ministry people, as focusing on "success" can lead to quantifying ministry in ways that it was never meant to be quantified and turning a creative, joyful work into an endless checklist.

But I think in our heart of hearts, we always wanted the "Midas touch" that those larger churches always seemed to have. Everything these "Midas churches" did turned to gold. Every event blew away expectations. Volunteers were numerous, talented, and energized. The attendees have a great time and are touched with the love of Christ. In the smaller churches, it often felt like we were happy if everyone survived. I always wondered, "why can't we have what they have?"

Last month, my church hosted a 5K run to raise money for the International Justice Mission, called the "Run:4Justice". It was amazing event that not only brought the whole church together but raised a ton of cash for IJM...it was their biggest single-event fundraiser ever! Here's what, from my perspective, made this "Midas event" turn to gold:

• Innovation - what church does 5Ks? People couldn't believe this was hosted by a church. One runner said with surprise, "it wasn't even cheesy!" To draw people into a vision, we've got to innovate and do things outside of the box.
• Big Vision - the entire leadership team never thought we could make it to 1000 runners and $100,000. We all thought we'd come up short, but the big leader, Local Mission Pastor Amy Nobles, kept pushing us toward that huge goal. The result? 1355 runners, $133,000. We were blown away! Big goals inspire people...sometimes "realism" is a copout.
• Commitment to Excellence - it was made clear to us that every single aspect of the run was to be done with complete and total dedication to excellence. We wanted not just to make it through the event, but to put on an event that people would be wowed by. Many runners told us it was the best 5K they've ever participated in...that's because we weren't allowed to compromise on quality. Be proud of your product, your vision, your event, or whatever you're doing and be willing to sacrifice the blood, sweat, tears, and cash it'll take to make it awesome.
• Planning ahead - 18 months of total planning, 5 months of intense planning, and one month of I'm-doing-nothing-else-in-my-life-but-the-Run planning was put into this event. Our leaders had us convinced that they had done the work to plan this sucker to a TEE. Planning inspires confidence in volunteers and increases ownership.
• Money - yeah, this part is tough. You gotta spend the cash to get the impact a lot of times. But with this event, the premise was so cool, the planning was so perfect, the people were so pumped, that the money came rolling in right on time. If you don't have the cash flow to make it go well, do something that you DO have the cash to do right...we can't compromise quality just because we don't have gobs of money.
• Advertisement - we used as many different avenues as possible to get the word out. If people don't hear about it, they won't come. Online, word of mouth, whatever...if the vision is compelling, people will show up when they hear about it.
• Sustained spiritual energy and positivity - our leaders were encouragers and kept us going, even when we (and they) wanted to quit.
• Leaders were the most committed - I knew that no matter how hard I was working, my leaders were working harder to get this done...that's incredibly inspirational!
• Involved the entire church - from babies to baby boomers, the whole church got in on the Run. A 9 year-old boy even published a children's book about the cause!

Amazing event, amazing church. Now that I'm rested up, I'm looking forward to what's next!

Tiger Church

"10 Then the Lord said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you.11 Obey what I command you today." - Exodus 34:10-11

I read this week's cover story of TIME magazine about "tiger mothers," the now-popular euphemism for strict Chinese parents. Some of the measures taken to discipline children are shocking, like calling a kid "garbage" or saying that second place is "disgraceful." But a lot of it really resonated with me. Specifically, I really am wondering if we are raising a nation of wimps, and even more frightening, a church of wimps.

When I was in youth ministry professionally, I kept feeling like I had to satisfy appetites that would never be satisfied. And I got very tired of having to be gimmicky to get kids to follow Christ. A part of me always admired the Chinese churches around us (in Arcadia, CA there are a lot), because their kids always seemed so well-behaved, polite, and dedicated. Now, granted, they tended to be more dedicated to school than their faith, but I also saw that the tireless and hyper-focused work ethic they brought to their schoolwork ended up in their spiritual discipline as well.

I wonder if we need more "tiger churches". It's not about whether Chinese culture or American culture are better, but about how close we are to realizing our purpose in the Kingdom of God. God told Moses that He would do amazing things through Israel if they obeyed Him. We see that caveat throughout the Bible: faith is tied to obedience. We must create kids and adults who are unyieldingly obedient to Jesus in order to see the power of God unleashed upon a broken and needy world that is crying out for Him. I wonder if we have too low of standards for our youth and treat them as too fragile. Here are a few things I learned from this article:

1. Assume strength, not fragility, and kids will believe they are strong, too

2. Praise hard work rather than inherent talent or intelligence, and kids will relish challenges rather than shy away from them. They will also connect their strength with their hard work rather than puffing themselves up with pride.

3. Demand excellence in everything, and they will live up to that standard. We must have expectations high enough for kids to fail, so they can learn how to do so gracefully.

Kids at church should respect their pastors, listen during sermons, be encouraging to each other, bring their Bibles, etc....we need to start expecting these things and teach kids the expectations, something I didn't do in youth ministry for fear of driving them away. Our kids hunger for a higher standard, something to live up to. Let's give it to them.

Quick Thoughts #1

I am so bad at being consistent with this blog. Here's my latest attempt to put my thoughts on paper to enrich my soul and those of whatever readers may come. I sometimes have quick thoughts, just small, pithy little bits of wisdom, that come to me while I'm in the Word. In addition to big posts, I'll put these up every once in a while. If you're reading, I hope this blesses you!

Quick Thoughts #1:

• To be a good encourager, one must be easily and regularly encouraged.
• Discipleship is a gourmet meal, which must be prepared with great care and practiced skill. Too many Christians make their spiritual nourishment depend upon a drive-thru meal prepared by someone else, which is ultimately neither nourishing nor satisfying.

God, make me a faithful witness of your power, grace, and love to whomever I meet today.

Great illustration of last post

Last night I went to a Texas Rangers game with my dad. It was fantastic, because the Rangers have never gone so far in the playoffs and I got to watch as my home team spanked the New York Yankees, 7-2. It was a great, down-home, old-time whoopin'.

There was a triumphal procession during and after the game, but not everyone enjoyed it. In the seventh inning it was already 7-2 and the Yanks weren't putting up much of a fight anymore. One woman with a Yankees jersey led her boyfriend down the aisle to leave. A Rangers fan yelled out, "Yankees fan, don't leave early!" in a mock-begging tone. She turned around and promptly flipped him the bird for everyone to see. Offended by this crass slight, three whole sections began to shout as one: "Yankees suck! Yankees suck!" This was the soundtrack of her shameful exit.

All down the ramp as we left, defiant and exultant cheers of "Let's go Rangers!", "Yankees suck!", and just raucous cheering escorted us out of the stadium. It was a wonder how 50,000 people could do the same thing at the same time, like one organism all together. I thought as we left...if we are this excited about a stupid game whose fame will last for a few years and be forgotten, why aren't we so excited about the victory of Christ, whose fame will last forever? Why am I so worried about what others will think of me, when I have such good news to share? Sure, they may take it as the smell of death, but my job isn't to make people like Jesus. My job is to faithfully live and proclaim His good news everywhere I go.

How can I be Jesus-smell today?

The Aroma of Christ

Wow, haven't posted in a while. I'm gonna get back to the roots of what this blog is about...taking the Word of God and thinking through it so I can apply it daily. I hope that anyone who happens to read this is built up by what I hear the Spirit saying to me.

"¹⁴But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. ¹⁵For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? ¹⁷Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God." - 2 Corinthians 2:14-17

What a vivid passage that describes our evangelistic dilemmas even today. The picture of a triumphal procession is used here, a victorious parade that would occur after a major win in battle. The generals and army would parade through the capitol and bring with them the plunder and slaves captured in the war...a way to show all the people that victory has very clearly been won. Incense and flowers were a big part of that parade, so that the usual stench of ancient cities would be covered up and people could not only see victory, they could SMELL victory.

Who are we in the triumphal procession? The generals? The soldiers? The captured slaves? None of the above. We are the incense! We are not even described as the active agents in achieving the victory. Christ our general has won the war already and it had nothing to do with our activity. Our job is to signify that the war has been won, merely to give the active, vivid sense to the world that the victory belongs to Christ. To some that victory will smell putrid, as I'm sure it did to the captives in the procession.

To the losers that fragrance would have been the worst smell in the world. To those who identify themselves with this world, with Satan, with hedonistic self-love, with anything that goes against the values of the kingdom of God, the smell of Christ's victory will be the smell of death. Death to my self-will. Death to my dreams. Death to success in the world's eyes. Death to respect, reputation, and the illusion that we are in total control.

But to the victors, that aroma would have been the best smell in the world. They would have stood in the crowd, taking a moment to rest from work and join in the sights, sounds, and smells of absolute victory. I can imagine them standing still, closing their eyes, and savoring the moment with a deep, long breath. To those who have surrendered themselves to Christ, the smell of Christ's victory is the smell of life. Life to our broken hearts. Life to a purposeless existence. Life to God's dreams. Life eternal.

So, how do we smell? Are we even giving off a smell? Are we incense that smells strongly, filled with fragrant spices, or are we a bland mixture that can only stimulate the senses when surrounded by other incense? In my workplace, apartment complex, grocery store, body shop, gym, etc., am I constantly giving off the aroma of Christ? Lord, let me stink of Jesus this week!