A Thinking Christian

The Godliness of Being One's Self - Part 4

2012-01-22T14:12:00.000-06:00

It was the smallest of interactions.

The young man sitting in front of me was applying for a position in my department a few years ago. He was clearly over-qualified.

I had to stop the interview and ask him bluntly, "If you weren't afraid of anything ... if fear was not your obstacle ... what would you do with your life?"

He took a deep breath and gave me an answer that was a wonderful vision for his life. And I knew it was well within his ability to make it happen.

When he finished, I said, "Go... do that!"

I could almost viscerally discern the strength and resolve pouring into him.

He stood up and said, "I will!", pumping my hand enthusiastically.

I later received an email from him telling how he indeed moved into this line of work and how satisfying it was.

I felt I had made a difference in his life because I had reacted candidly and authentically to him.

I felt Christ had touched him.

Through me.

I had not quoted scripture (although there's nothing wrong with that). I had not given him a pamphlet or website address that listed church meeting times.

I was just being myself. But ... wait for it ... the magic was that Christ lives in me.

So whoever I touch, Christ has the opportunity to touch.

Can you see how powerful this is?

As I move through life, navigating through the myriad of interactions I have each day, whether it be work or personal, I represent a potential Christ touchpoint for every single human being I encounter.

Just by being myself.

You see, God is so brilliant that he has embedded the Holy Spirit within us. His manifestation comes out through our personality, our intelligence, our empathy, our passions, our humor and so on.

Brilliant.

As we are being ourselves.

The weakest leaders, followers, co-workers, neighbors, friends, etc are those who feel they need to pretend to be one way when they are really another way entirely.

In the kingdom of God, I believe that as you relax into your native abilities, approaches and interests, you grow exponentially stronger in Him.

Not taught much but I think it is a key and vital truth of the kingdom of God.

"So, Terry, are you saying that everyone you encounter through the day is touched by Christ by virtue of encountering you?"

Depending on how congruently I am chugging along at any point in a day, I would say yes.

Oh, I have massive chunks of the day when I am frustrated, etc that folks might not see Christ in me. But even then, there is something about encountering an authentic person filled with Christ, even under the strain of frustration, that is redemptive.

If you are not comfortable in your own skin, somehow all this gets blocked.

Being comfortable with who God has made you at a DNA level is a life-long journey. However, so is maturity in Christ. And these two paths are often one.

Today ... I implore you ... be yourself!

You may find your maturity in Christ accelerating.

Seriously ... just let go

2012-01-14T10:22:00.000-06:00

It was 2005 ... I was traveling from Nashville to a small village in France to give my daughter away in marriage. I had my wife, son and a friend with me.

The flights were booked so that there was not a great deal of time after we were scheduled to arrive until the ceremony was to occur. No margin for delays, in other words.

And we were marooned in DC, unable to continue to NYC where our flight to Paris awaited.

Ground stop.

Nothing taking off and nothing landing due to weather.

I remember pacing around the airline lounge saying to myself something along the lines of:

'God, how come I am going to be the only Dad on the planet to miss my daughter's wedding?"

"Why me?"

"I cannot believe this!"

"Of all the rotten luck..."

It was a highly anxious moment of time for me. Highly anxious. Stress was breaking the speed limit inside my brain.

I prayed ... I fretted ... I prayed a little more ... I fretted a lot more.

I checked the airline's info line 5 million times for updates.

I incessantly worried the gate attendant with my non-stop 'can we take off yet?' questions.

If she had turned a Taser on me, I wouldn't have blamed her.

The situation was so out-of-my-control that it was ludicrous. I simply had no way of controlling the situation and that was paralyzing.

As I was reaching yet another freak-out point, in my spirit, I heard the following words ... "Just let go ..."

It was as if a piece of mining equipment that had just flattened me was immediately removed. The out-of-control internal stress finally obeyed a stop sign. Peace replaced chaos and fear.

You know how stories like these end ... we made the plane and all was ok.

But what made a lasting impression on me was how little control we have over anything in our lives. Oh we may think we exert great control but it is a cruel illusion.

That's why it is so logical, wise, smart, sensible, well-advised, solid and excellent to let go.

Constantly.

Let go and cede your worries to the One who truly has control.

Can you do it?

The Godliness of Being One's Self - Part 3

2012-01-08T14:11:00.001-06:00

... or ... To Tree or not to Tree, That is the Question

“A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying Him…. The more a tree is like itself, the more it is like Him….” – Thomas Merton

Are you funny?

Go with that!

Has God made you analytical?

Go with that!

Do you love entertaining in your home?

Do that!

Has God gifted you with a musical ability?

Own it!

Do you like to write?

Please ... identify with that!

Whatever abilities or personality traits God has invested in you, be that way!

Here's the funny way God has constructed the human personality: the more you own who you are and become congruent with your essence, the better you become in every way possible.

When faced with anxiety-provoking situations, I often calm myself by reminding myself of the following 3 words ... " ... just be yourself". It produces an almost palpable calming effect on me.

Be yourself.

It is a very overlooked way to praise God.

Simply be yourself.

Combing your hair with a bulldozer

2012-01-02T10:14:00.003-06:00

Some things you just never see.

I have never seen someone try to drink a glass of water by soaking their hair in it.

I have never seen anyone try to eat a piece of lumber, after shaking salt and pepper on it.

I have never seen anyone try to use a coffee cup as a shoe.

I have never seen anyone try to fill up their car's gas tank with tomato ketchup.

Why haven't I?

Because none of these actions make sense, in any way, shape, form or fashion.

Similarly, Luke 8:16 continues my thoughts:

“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. "

Why not?

For the same reason one does not make a parachute from lead ... it just doesn't make sense!

OK, blog-readers ... listen up!

You've been given some gifts by God ... I know it ... you know it.

And you may not have been using your gifts ... and ... wait for it ... God says that just doesn't make sense.

He gave gifts to you for a reason ... not for you to archive rather for you to put in motion.

He gave you a baseball bat not to waste away leaning in a corner but to swing at baseballs.

You wouldn't water your tomato plants with gravel ... wouldn't make sense.

Neither should you watch the special abilities God with which God has entrusted you, atrophy due to lack of use.

Just do it ... that is what makes sense. Ya think?

Masters of exclusion

2011-12-24T13:22:00.000-06:00

Something has been on my mind for a while ... why are churches, indeed, the entire raft of Christianity, so focused on defining the basis for excluding others?

Why does much of Christianity seem so locked on to who is not in the club rather than lifting up the life-giving aroma of Jesus Christ?

Why are we so well-versed, indeed, astute, in how to bar others at the door?

I heard a wise man once say that the last thing a drunk needs to hear is that he is a sinner and has a problem.

He knows he is a sinner.

His problem is how to get well, not understanding that he is sick.

What brought me to Christ?

The life-giving reality of a deity who actually existed and would relate to me.

Trust me, screaming at me that I was a sinner and damned to eternal hell-fire would not have yielded a good result.

Lifting up Jesus Christ did, however.

Is there something for us to consider in all of this?

Maybe it has to do with not being a master of exclusion.

Set your heart on being a light to the world, rather than a baseball bat clubbing the world.

The Godliness of Being One's Self - Part 2

2011-12-18T10:07:00.000-06:00

It is godly to simply be who you are.

Carl Rogers, father of American psychology, was once asked, 'what is the meaning of life?'

He gave one of the most profound answers I have ever heard. Keep in mind that he is not answering in a God context.

He said, 'To be that self which one truly is.'

There is a joy in just being who you are. There is a divine joy, if I may be so bold. There is a heady pleasure that emanates from deep within one's spirit when one is simply one's self.

If I were the devil and God had loaded a person up with certain gifts, I surely would not want them to use them ... rather, I would dilute them by any number of methods, the chief one of which would be making them feel uncomfortable with their native abilities ... I would want the musician to become an accountant ... I would want the humorous to become 'godly somber' ... I would want the teacher to long to be a banjo-player.

I would want Beethoven to put all his effort into being the best baker he could possibly be.

Wrap God's glory tightly around you as you become confortable with yourself and your native abilities, personality, approach to life, and giftedness. Do not long to become someone else.

You are never more strong than when you are fully yourself.

Being yourself is a strong way to reflect God's glory. Being someone else reflects ... hmm ... what does it reflect? Well, it doesn't reflect God's glory, that's for sure. I suppose it reflects some strange sort of inner tangle of fears and insecurities that we carry around.

It is SOOOO godly to simply be who you are.

Live in that reality today.

Commerce, Sleep Deprivation and the Messiah

2011-12-11T11:43:00.001-06:00

I was reading in Luke this morning and noticed something. I am always on the lookout for the twists, the nuances, the often-hidden aspects of the Word because, hey, that's how he wired me.

Anyway, in Luke, it says Jesus called Peter while Peter was sleep-deprived. Skeptical? Whip out Luke 5:5, then come back to me.

But the real eye-opener for me today was that Jesus performed a commerce miracle for Peter as a way to say, thanks for letting me use your boat. He brought about an economic blessing ... it was the equivalent of a marketing campaign suddenly performing 100 times greater than it ever had, due to the Messiah's touch.

I wonder sometimes why this choice of miracle? Surely there are many categories Jesus could have picked from ... each would have been equally astounding.

Why a commercial miracle?

Here's my take: because it would move Peter the most, the quickest, at the deepest level. An economic anomaly.

Remember, his marketing campaign had been flat-lined all night.

Did it move Peter? Well, he ended up on his knees. You draw the conclusion.

Don't restrict God's hand to non-economic activities. Don't be reticent to pray over your business(es). Don't suffer a poverty of faith when it comes to commercial activities in which you are engaged.

What kind of event brought about by the Messiah will bring you to your knees?

Think about that.

Complaining 101

2011-11-24T20:40:00.000-06:00

In reading the Word this morning, I was in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is a fascinating place to read.

At any rate, Israel was wandering in the desert and their only sustenance was manna.

Problem is, they wanted meat. Tired of manna. Need meat.

So they complained. They were sick of manna. They missed Egypt's restaurants.

Apparently, this is a side of human nature God doesn't like very much. This is just a crazy guess on my part but my first clue was when he sent fire to consume part of their camp in response to the belly-aching.

I complain ... not a huge complainer ... but I complain about various things in life ... various people, etc

Sometimes I complain about every atom within a hundred miles of me ...

It seems to me that if you live in a fallen world, complaining would be a natural response ... you are simply reacting to the sub-standardness of it all. My initial thought therefore is that complaining is a natural part of life.

And maybe part of that is true. But now my task is to figure out God's view alongside my view of complaining.

Here's what I have figured out:

Once we are in the Kingdom, our context changes. The fallen world, as it were, stays the same but we become not of the world. Sorta like a bubble appears with the Kingdom of God in it and now we are in that bubble too.

In that bubble, we are totally dependent on him. He uses bad for good. We are his lights. All our physics change and our compasses get reset.

So, inside the bubble, how can we complain?

Oh sure, I know that bad stuff happens inside the bubble. Yet, still, how can we complain?

He has provided faithfully manna for us daily but hey, I need ribeye.

Maybe we need manna and the ribeye will kill us. Maybe he knows what is better for me than I do.

I am going to stay away from exhorting you not to complain ... not my niche ... too predictable an end to this blog ...

But I do want you to consider what I have said ... and next time you are tempted to complain, buy some bubble gum instead ... ok?

The Godliness of Being One's Self

2011-11-19T10:01:00.000-06:00

One of the most profound truths I have learned as I have matured in the faith is this: you are never stronger than when you are fully yourself.

I completely understand that this thought will send many ministers running for the exit after pulling the fire alarms.

I find this reaction sad because anything else often results in a short-term intensity with a long-term slowdown, in the life of faith. If we teach folks that they cannot be themselves when they become Christians, we set the stage for internal chaos in believers.

I will go one further and state that unless a believer fully embraces and rejoices in who they uniquely are, they cannot mature past a certain level. Indeed, they are, in my belief, dangerous.

I have heard many a teaching through the years that all have the same message, ostensibly based in Scripture (so were the Crusades, btw) but putting the same cruel twist in them. Here's how it goes:

'Put on the mind of Christ - quit thinking in your own natural realm and put on his mind, not yours'

Folks, can you imagine how confused a new believer would be after listening to this? Let's see ... hmmm ... I'm not supposed to think ... or am I? ... wait a minute, Christ needs to be thinking, not me ... or is it the other way around? ... who am I anyway?

God has so beautifully orchestrated the Holy Spirit inside of us that he is co-mingled with who we are and transforms who we are. We keep being ourself because ourself is always being transformed. We do not consciously try to be someone else - we enjoy the transformation ride internally and keep being ourselves ... that way the transformation unfolds naturally.

And that is how we put on the mind of Christ, incidentally.

Here's another snippet that I often hear:

'Die to self! God hates your self - that is why you must die to it. Instead, let Christ be reborn in you.'

Again, scripture is quoted but the like fire, it can be harmful or helpful.

Dying to self means letting the inner work of the Holy Spirit proceed and in doing so, old ways, thoughts and habits are peeled away or transformed. The self is died to. But that is simply another way of saying the self is transformed in Christ's reflection.

Any other way of interpreting it is fraught with danger - hmmm, let's see ... my self is bad so I must be someone else in order to be good. I like broccoli so I ... gee whiz ... I need to now hate broccoli. I have a natural authentic way of expressing myself but now ... oh no! ... that's bad! I need to speak like someone else. I love hiking but ... I need to die to self ... darn! I need to give that up!

This is why it is so important to teach how to walk with Christ in an authentic way, not in a way that prizes soundbites over substance.

If you were artistic before you became a Christian, you won't lose that in your conversion ... God will transform that attribute and morph that quality into a Christ-touched artistic aspect. If you were loved the puts and takes of the business world before you became a Christian, trust me, God will not suddenly exorcise that out of you. Rather, he will bathe it with his Spirit and it will become a transformed and ultimately more satisfactory part of your being.

Or ... my favorite ... if you had a sense of humor before your Christ-encounter, he will not require you to chuck it overboard before you proceed in the faith. He will use it to enhance your winsomeness and approachability. You will be even funnier.

All of this lays the foundation for a strong and persistent life in Christ.

Today, be yourself! And God will come through in living colors!

Starting the Day in the Midst of Torrents of Doubts

2011-11-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

They rain down like cats and dogs.

They flood you like a super-sized firehose turned squarely at your face at full force.

They attack you like 10,000 bees are incensed that you inadvertently knocked down their hive.

They try to spiritually suffocate you, drown you, choke the life out of you, stop your heart and cripple you forever. They are uninvited and you hate them yet they show up for dinner.

What are these wretched things I am speaking of?

Doubts.

In particular, doubts about God, Christ, the Bible, etc etc. Is it all true? Am I a fool for believing all this? How can I be intellectually honest and follow Jesus simultaneously?

And, quite frankly, Christian church history doesn't help a whole lot. The institutional church has consistently opposed science. Generations later, when the science was accepted, the church caved in and said, 'Oh ok, it was a correct world view all along ... sorry!'

But only after killing tens of thousands and upheaving societies.

That is another writing however, not this one.

I have personally had doubts about every aspect of my Christianity. From A to Z. Nothing excluded.

It seems that when I am in the midst of these, God somehow always provides a sign or a thought or a further enlightenment to rescue me. He reminds me of something that has occurred to me in times past or arranges my present circumstances in such a way that my doubt lessens.

I have come to believe that it is part of the human condition to have doubts about our Creator's existence. Or Christ's existence. Or the Holy Spirit's existence.

Mainly because they are all invisible and we are all visible. That sets the stage for doubt right from the starting line, doesn't it?

So what do you do when you start your day and squadrons of doubts assume attack formation around you?

Here are 3 things that might help ...

1) Ask God to help you with your doubts - let's face it, we need to look to him for help in all our complexities ... and doubt is one of those complexities, right? Right! So reach out and say 'Lord, help me with my doubts'.

2) Don't take a head-first dive into the pool of unrelenting guilt when you experience doubts. It is part of the human condition. You will have to deal with doubts so there is no need to feel less than or highly defective when these come upon you. As a matter of fact, if you really want to feel hobbled, try shouldering a fresh load of doubts AND guilt as you start your day. If I was the devil, I would really like you to have these twin burdens on you each day. Your effectiveness would be neutralized quite efficiently.

3) Above all, keep a clear head about you. As you move through doubts, find a trusted friend to talk to. Not one who will deliver 15 scathing rebukes in the first 5 seconds. But one who is wise and loving.

Doubt of all sizes and shapes come with the territory, as we traverse the Christian terrain.

What do you do when doubts rain down upon you?

Incremental Word Absorption

2011-10-23T08:57:00.000-05:00

So many things in life work better incrementally ... in other words, you do not have to try to do it all at once, but a little each day. The tortoise and the hare, for example.

Hmmm ... seems that even the Creator took the incremental approach to creation (six days).

I get an amazing amount accomplished incrementally but fall flat on my face when I try to live a personal 'big bang' theory.

I am so struck by the power of daily letting God sprinkle your spirit with his Word. In my own life, after fighting through doubts and fears and just general spiritual burn-out, this incremental Word absorption has kept me from ending up in life's junk mail folder more times than not.

Here's how I do it:

I use oneyearbible.net and work through it every day. I may not read an entire day's reading for that day ... that is so ok! There is no law here.

I ask God to speak to me through what I am reading.

More often than not, I realize something that puts gas in my spiritual car. I will have a quickening, an enlightenment, a realization that encourages me, challenges me or simply motivates me.

Remember, I was born a skeptic. So there are days when I read the Word that it feels like reading the nutrition label of a Quaker Oats box. Not getting much out of it ... did you know that it is ok to say that?

Think critically about what you read ... the Holy Spirit is all mixed up with your interior life so you can trust your critical thinking. Remember, he is the helper.

Incrementally read the Old and New Testament. Your personal tide will rise and with it, your boat. I promise.

The Centurion is Past Due

2011-09-24T11:08:00.000-05:00

I wonder about the centurion who came to the realization that the one he had just helped crucify was indeed God’s offspring. The light came on for him just after Jesus’ light went out.

And take note that he spoke his realization out loud. In front of his peers.

He may have been one who brutally persecuted Jesus in his last hours. He may have taken part in the cruel taunting. We just do not know.

But we do know one thing … he had a realization that many around him did not share. He saw Christ for who he was.

Just a couple of minutes too late.

Realizations , understandings and comprehensions of things eternal do not always keep tidy schedules.

I have no doubt that this centurion was forever changed fundamentally by his awakening.

That obnoxious person who sits next to you at work may be just one day away from a life-altering view of Jesus. You just do not know.

That relative of yours who always shoves your talk of the kingdom back in your face might be only twenty minutes away from a jaw-dropping conversion experience. You just do not know.

That neighbor of yours who is the personification of agnosticism and quite articulate about it may be on the verge of recognizing Christ in an overwhelming way. You just don’t know.

Never give up on the taunters, the skeptics, the raucous persecutors. You do not know God’s plan for them.

Is there a centurion in your life who is way past due in accepting Jesus?

Be patient … God never misses the train.

The Rooster, the Avalanche and the Snake

2011-09-14T13:01:00.000-05:00

Fear again is in the driver’s seat for Peter in Mark 14:56-72.

Not only fear, but anger also shows up at the party. Lying also joins the activities. Not to be outdone, cursing also arrives however fashionably late.

Fear is like a huge black snake wrapped around your spirit, squeezing the life out of you.

Fear was a central guidepost in my life when I was younger and it forced me into bad decisions and many stupid actions. It injected stress where stress did not need to be. It caused me to be stressed 24 - 7.

Sorta like what was happening to Peter.

Fear is like an avalanche … once it gets going, it is a potent force, almost unstoppable.

Sorta like what was happening to Peter.

I would love to have jumped out of the crowd and said to Peter, “Hey, God hasn’t given you a spirit of fear, Peter!”

The rooster crowing turned the avalanche of fears into a torrent of tears. Giving in to our fears is never our finest hour.

With God on your side and the Comforter in your heart, lean in to your fears today. By that, I mean move toward your fears and watch the hand of God make you brave and courageous.

Today.

What the Deli Served in 0 A.D.

2011-09-11T08:36:00.000-05:00

I understand what Peter did in Mark 14: 53-65.

He kept a distance between Jesus and himself, in order to try to figure things out.

The distance was built by fear, wasn’t it? Fear was the master engineer of Peter hanging back. Fear had the blueprints and designed the moment in today’s passage.

Later, the church was built on Peter and the apostles however, presently, he was failing the fear-test in a spectacular way.

If this situation was a deli, fear sandwiches were the only thing on the menu for Peter that day.

Fear is like a cold, freezing pair of hands squeezing our spirits.

Fear has dread baked right into the middle of it. Dread can rule our lives. Dread can make us lose our dreams. Dread can cause suicides.

Peter was dreading what he was witnessing.

When you give in to fear, it is like watering a poisonous vine that chokes any and everything in its path. When you give in to fear, you fertilize the destructive vine. It is like you are feeding the monster in the backyard. Not smart.

Fortunately, as Peter becomes filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts, we see a movement away from what this passages outlines today. He no longer is dominated by fear. The poisonous vine dies and the Spirit ushers in strong, transformational courage.

The monster in the backyard evaporates.

What are you afraid of today?

Trust God today to give you the grace to face that one fear down and as you do, you will be ready to face down the next fear, then the next then the next.

And transformation will have arrived.

He is everywhere

2011-07-03T10:45:00.000-05:00

I awakened this morning with a sense of Christ's presence everywhere.

He is in the morning mist
  he is in the evening pale
woven through all fabric
  grace rings like a bell

His eyes are stars a-blazing
  His voice is in the brook
He smiles from within the daisies
  He whispers from every nook

It occurs to me that we go to Olympic efforts to find him when we may just need to slow our minds and spirits for a bit to allow him to come into focus.

It reminds me of the old story told about the time when God was about to create man. He had gathered all the animals around him and asked where he should place 'the meaning of life'. He said it had to be a place that was virtually undiscoverable.

The eagle answered, 'Place it in my nest on the highest mountain ... it will be really difficult for him to find.'

The whale responded, 'No, no ... put it in the depths of the sea ... think how hard that would be for him to discover!'

But the wise old owl finally spoke, 'All good suggestions but you need to place it inside his own heart ... he'll never look there.'

Do you ever slow down enough to sense what and who is all around you?

There's a new sheriff in town

2011-06-12T09:34:00.000-05:00

There is a god in our nation called “Lord ReallyBusy”.

If you worship at his altar, you just might be so distracted that nothing else bothers you or is able to pierce the cloak of impenetrable activity that this god wraps around all its followers.

The kingdom of God is so unlike our normal inclinations. Busy-ness does not equal progress, Being involved in a myriad of activities does not automatically translate into spiritual depth. As a matter of fact, it just might keep your car stuck in the mud.

Jesus told Martha that she was simply doing too much. She was involved in worshipping “Lord ReallyBusy” and not Jesus Christ. (And she did not even notice it!)

But what is really a jaw-dropper is when Jesus took Martha’s to-do list away from her and threw it in the trash. Then he gave her a new to-do list.

It had only one thing on it.

According to Luke 10:42, the one thing was:

1) Sit at my feet and listen to me.

There was no number two. There was no number three.

Just number one.

What is on your to-do list today?

Dear God of Love, please incinerate my enemies!

2011-06-07T22:24:00.000-05:00

OK, read the following verses then jump into my thoughts afterwards!

Luke 9: 51 - 56

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. 54When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’* 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56Then* they went on to another village.

------
The disciples are at it again!

Apparently, that primal and foundational sin, pride, has jumped into their pockets as they move through the countryside with Jesus. Witnessing miracle after miracle and hearing the words of life from Jesus’ very lips seems not to have had quite the desired effect on this group.

When a village does not give Jesus the key to the city, how furious are the disciples! James and John then utter the immortal words, ‘Any problem with us asking that they be incinerated?’

The problem I have with this passage is that I see myself in it.

I get slighted and I need revenge. I feel insulted and I want someone’s head. I sense disrespect and look out jugular, here I come.

Pride is the gasoline in my engine when I feel this way.

I don’t see where Jesus reprimanded the village, he just continued his journey. Perhaps because he was hooked in to his Father’s more transcendent purposes?

Pride often retreats in the face of larger purpose. Higher matters always trump the smaller trivialities.

Pride causes all sorts of odd little behaviors in our lives. It is as persistent as a mosquito in the heat of summer.

Who has disparaged you lately? Who has not treated you appropriately recently?

What kind of fire have you wished on them?

May we see pride as the hobgoblin of those of us who seek Christ.

Daily be aware and repent. Allow the updraft of Christ’s purposes to help you ascend over small pettinesses.

It is the only way you can ever arrive at your Jerusalem.

Criticizing the Home Run King's Shoelaces

2011-03-06T17:45:00.000-06:00

Jesus was SO not legalistic!

I had an uncle who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, in WW2. He fought valiantly and singlehandedly defended his entire company from destruction in Belgium. He was awarded many, many honors including the Battle Star and other medals.

He came back from the battlefront and lived a life of honor, raising a family and contributing to his community.

He loved God and raised his children in the fear of the Lord.

His church however refused to allow him to become a member.

Why?

He smoked.

One more time.

He smoked.

The way I understand the New Testament, with profundity, Jesus asserts to the Pharisees that the Sabbath was made for man, not vice versa.

Legalism always takes the vice versa.

Legalism criticizes the way a ball player ties his shoe laces a few seconds after that ball player hits a grand slam.

Legalism passes judgment on the CPR technique of a paramedic who has just saved the life of a heart attack victim.

Legalism finds a way to disapprove of the long-awaited Messiah because his followers ate some grain on the Sabbath.

Legalism always seems to find the tiny gnat while missing the Himalaya mountains.

Philip Yancey, writing of legalism, puts it this way: ‘The solution to sin is not to impose an ever-stricter code of behaviour. It is to know God.’

Do you find yourself wrapped around the axle of a tiny code of behavior that is insignificant in the larger kingdom of God? And do you use it as a basis for being judgmental and harsh on others?

If you find yourself drawn to obsessive criticism of others in the kingdom because they do not meet your standards, seek to know God more deeply.

Although a legalistic and critical outlook is difficult to defeat, it has no part in your new nature … ever.

Tolerating Ambiguity in Christ

2011-02-26T11:45:00.000-06:00

GASP!

Ambiguity in our theology?

DOUBLE GASP!

You must not be a Christian! Our theology has to be completely explained, all corners completed ironed out and tucked in, the dust gone and the mirror free of any smudges.

Except it cannot be.

Even Paul recognized this ... ponder 1 Corinthians 13:12 -

"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

Here, let me translate ... there will be ambiguity in your theology. There will be parts of your belief system that you cannot explain.

Let me be more succinct.

Don't even try to pretend that you can explain every nuance of your theology because you can't. One day you can explain it all but by then you won't be on earth anymore.

Remember the movie, "Field of Dreams"? There was a line in the movie that 'if you build it, he will come'. It was referring to if Kevin Costner built a baseball field, he (Shoeless Joe) will come.

Often, theologians, teachers and preachers feel compelled to explain what clearly is unexplainable. So they start building a field (explaining), believing that he (the answer) will come.

Only often it doesn't.

But the power of Christ is not in explanations ... it is in his pervasively transcendent reality. The power of Christ lies not in a litany of details we give to clarify the kingdom ... it is in the overarching threads of himself woven deeply and broadly into our reality.

Can we tolerate ambiguity that the Word of God has assured us will be with us as long as we are on this earth?

I used to struggle with this.

Until one day, in business school, I was listening to an explanation about the causes of variability in the stock market. Here's the explanation:

A certain percentage of variability in the stock market can be traced to know-able events ... earnings, etc. Quite a large percentage of variability in the stock market cannot be traced to anything ... this is called 'systemic risk' ... what that means is that it simply cannot be explained.

And the professor did not feel compelled to invent an explanation for what was clearly unexplainable.

Hmmm ... so the unexplainable is woven even into our economic system.

Augustine, the father of theologians, was walking on the ocean shore and pondering over the truth, "three distinct persons, not separate, but distinct; and yet but one God;" and he came upon a little boy that was playing with a colored sea-shell, scooping a hole in the sand, and then going down to the waves and getting his shell full of water and putting it into the hole. Augustine said, "What are you doing, my little fellow? " The boy replied, "I am going to pour the sea into that hole." "Ah," said Augustine, "that is what I have been attempting. Standing at the ocean of infinity, I have attempted to grasp it with my finite mind."

Do not feel compelled to explain those parts of God's kingdom that are essentially unexplainable. Just let it go or take a risk and say those three words that will endear you to any seeker of truth.

Just say ... "I don't know".

You will have just aligned yourself with Scripture ... and ... you will find your credibility with an unbelieving world, zooming through the roof.

Jesus Christ Superstar and me - a match made in ...

2010-07-24T14:07:00.000-05:00

I always find it funny when I hear folks say that such and such a person is not reachable by Christ.

Or that this other person surely has found a way to be beyond God's long arm.

Or that their child is the one person who has finally managed to find a way to elude the hounds of heaven.

I also find it amusing when I hear other folks prescribe exactly and precisely how a person has to come to know Christ. You know the drill, a person HAS TO be baptised in order to be saved ... a person HAS TO go through 3 or 4 steps (depending on who you are talking to) in order to be properly redeemed ... a person HAS TO pray a prayer with certain words and themes before becoming a Christian.

Balderdash!

None of that is true, in my humble opinion.

The Bible is so full of different methods and ways and approaches that folks have experienced in coming to Christ that I can only find one commonality ... the destination, Jesus Christ.

Take me, for example.

I was a teenage agnostic. And I did not subscribe to the theory that the Bible was true.

Until I heard Jesus Christ, Superstar, the irreverent rock opera.

Now, Jesus Christ, Superstar, was condemned and blasted by just about every church that existed at that time. They alleged that it was not accurate ... it was not respectful ... it was too far out ... it made fun of Christ ... and on and on and on. Churches around the nation reloaded and declared it to be of the devil. Churches around the nation authoritatively declared it to be a heretical blasphemy.

But God used it to bring me to himself.

Sobering, isn't it?

When I listened to it at the age of 18, a door in my heart opened that had never been opened. When I listened to it at the age of 18, a desert inside of me began a self-irrigation project. Christ began somehow to change me.

We never know who or what God will use to bring someone to Christ. We may say we know, but we really don't.

Try not to limit God, ok? Try not to prescribe his ways and methods for others since he will assuredly not adhere to your rules that you set for him.

If God wants to knock someone off a donkey to facilitate their salvation, that is ok.
If God wants to use a rooster to call the unrepentant to repentance, so be it.
If God wants to use the terror of a roller-coaster ride in a theme park to draw a person into his kingdom, that's just peachy.
If God wants to use a rock in your shoe to bring you to himself, then that's just perfect!
If God wants to use the death of a loved one to brush your face against eternity, super!
If he wants to use an old-fashioned altar call in a Southern Baptist church to throw his ropes around you, excellent!

Entire denominations are built around prescribing methods of salvation that must be adhered to in order to know that your ticket has been punched.

He will do what he will do and he will use who or what he chooses. GASP! What a novel concept! Some might even say that this is the definition of sovereignty. DOUBLE GASP!

Here's the take-away, gang ... let God be sovereign and you worry about what kind of follower of Jesus you are ... his sovereignty will choose the right approach to bring others into the kingdom.

Keep your ear attuned to him so that you might know how you can help, if, indeed, you can at all.

Who knows, he might even use a rock opera.

A Christian Defense of Doubt

2010-04-03T12:56:00.000-05:00

I was born a skeptic.

Didn't ask for it ... just happened.

I questioned everything ... didn't matter what it was, I questioned it. Questions would fly out of me as fast as bullets would fly out of the hot barrel of a frenzied machine gun.

This questioning of everything was in my nature and I, quite frankly, found it to be helpful as I moved through life. I became a varsity debater in the eighth grade due to this quality.

Herein lies the rub ... I became a Christian.

It was a wonderful, real and transformational experience for me.

However I immediately became associated with a group of believers (in Nashville) who did something that I felt was intuitively wrong ... they discouraged me from questioning anything ... read that again ... ANYTHING ... about my new faith or the Bible. To question was to fall away from the faith.

Well, I felt then as I feel now ... you grow as you question.

You see, when you seek truth, you grow. When you seek truth, you question.

When you are afraid, you seek nothing. Too risky.

When you are afraid, you shrink.

I have always felt Christianity was industrial-strength enough to handle anything we can throw at it. We have not stepped into a fragile faith.

Do I have all the answers?

No.

But not even my most acid-test questions have shaken my faith in the least.

Here's an example: I have never heard a good explanation of the Trinity. Oh, I have heard all the traditional explanations - water exists in three states, ice, water and steam yet it is one - I am a son, a husband and a father, yet I am one, etc etc.

None ring true with me. It feels like it is essentially unexplainable but we cannot just say that so we invent metaphors to try to take us into the land of understanding when, sadly, such a land may not exist for some attributes of God.

So do I believe in the Trinity? Most assuredly ... I just cannot explain it. And I am ok with that. Paul writes in 1st Corinthians about 'seeing through a glass darkly but then face to face'. To me that means that only partial understanding is available to us while we are on the earth.

That sets the stage for questions ... at least in my mind. And some of our questions are of such a transcendent nature that they just are not going to be answered with anything other than saying I don't know.

Which brings me back to doubt.

If you find yourself doubting the essentials of the faith, don't freak out. Because we are not equipped to explain every single thing about our faith, having bouts of doubt is normal. Enduring storms of weak faith is part and parcel of our Christian journey.

John the Baptist rode out the storms of doubt. And Jesus held him in particularly high esteem.

Thomas, our most famous of doubters, was not voted off the island by Jesus, who had every opportunity to do so.

Doubt has caused many Christians to fall away because, rather than ride out the storm, they toss their faith overboard.

I say ride out the storm. It is normal. If you feel Christianity is all a big joke or all some sort of collective wishful thinking, just hang on. The Holy Spirit will help you get through it.

So here's the Christian defense of doubt ... it is part of the terrain we must traverse. It is part of the jungle we must hack our way through while on earth. Never put a fellow-believer down who is struggling with doubt. And never chase the non-believer away who dares to ask the tough questions.

He is invisible!

2010-03-06T11:15:00.000-06:00

Have you ever awakened and felt that God was not near?

By way of analogy, if you were a nation, was it like God was stopped at the border?

Or maybe even, he was simply and completely nowhere around ... like, nowhere in your universe? A breathtaking kind of no-show?

This happens to me often. Chances are, it happens to you too, right?

Well, hold on to your hat ... I'm going to tell you something that will rock your world.

God is invisible!

Things that are invisible are tough sometimes to sense in any way, shape, form or fashion! Our normal senses do not operate on them.

Of course, God knew all this when he put in place the present we-are-matter-but-he-is-not structure. This did not catch him off guard. This was not unanticipated in the heavenlies. This was not an oversight or miscalculation on God's part.

But it does make for mornings when he might not be anywhere in your neighborhood.

What I'm saying to you is that this is normal, standard, natural ... almost routine. It is not a reason to flip out, doubt the foundations of your faith or run screaming into the night.

If you read the Psalms, David felt the absence of God's presence often. So did many of the major and minor prophets. It is a normal structure for this God-man experience.

I have had stretches of months, where I experienced this kind of 'absence'.

Here's what to do:

1) Relax ... most Christians who have a pulse experience this,
2) Rest in the knowledge that he is pervasive in our worlds, we are the ones who are failing to sense him,
3) Share with other Christians this experience ... as we share our struggles, the body of Christ is built up. (Just not enough struggle-sharing going on now-a-days)

So the next time you awaken and the invisible God is not immediately connected to, remember that the same thing happened to David and Jonah and Moses and Joshua and Jeremiah and Paul and John the Baptist and Mother Teresa and Billy Graham and DL Moody and Oswald Chambers and Jesus (remember the Garden of Gethsemane?) and Isaiah and Peter and Timothy and Abraham and .... now it has happened to you!

Victor Frankl, God and Terry Blankenship

2009-04-29T21:20:00.000-05:00

by Terry Blankenship

I struggled much of my life prior to my conversion to Christianity with a profound lack of purpose. I would ask myself over and over a question that couldn’t be answered ... ‘why are we alive?’ There would never be a good answer to it from anyone. I got so depressed over this question that I began going to a psychologist at age eighteen and, in the course of my treatment, began posing the question to him.

“So ... why ARE we alive?” I nervously asked him as I sat in his office.

He coughed, nervously ran a finger around the front collar of his shirt like it had suddenly become incredibly warm in his office, and replied, “Well, I think that, given another 6 months of talking this through, we might start to make some progress with that question.”

BINGO ... it was just like he had opened his wallet and showed me all the money inside and ... it was empty ... he didn’t have a clue either. It was just not professionally savvy for him to admit to me that he had no answer to my most earnest of questions.

He did however manage to label me.

“You have existential despair,” he weakly said as his eyes averted mine.

So I continued my search.

I had a very esteemed Vanderbilt philosophy professor that I felt I might as well pose the question to in class during one of his existentialism lectures ... why not? I would at least be interrupting the right topic.

“Yes, Terry, what is your question” he asked as he motioned in my direction. The cavernous hall seemed to grow ominously quiet as my fellow students leaned in to listen as a respite from their growing boredom.

“Uh ... what is the purpose of life ... you know, the meaning?”

He paused for a second. He looked perplexed. But hey, this was exactly the question that has been asked throughout the ages that gave rise to the very topic on which he was lecturing ... right? Going like a deer in headlights at this moment wouldn’t have been very fulfilling to his daily resume he strove to build with his students, would it?

“The meaning of life is ... is that you are alive. That is the meaning of life,” he stated confidently.

At that moment, in my eyes, he slid into the very same category as my psychologist ... he did not have a clue. He didn’t even have a good attempt at an answer. As a matter of fact, I determined as soon as he answered not to ask a follow-up question due to the fact that he too had just open up his wallet of wisdom and showed me his embarrassing lack of money inside.

The meaning of life is like a gothic hummingbird that flits around us all. Some of us apprehend it and are happy as a clam the rest of our lives while others are never quite able to coax it into the cage that they have built for it and therefore, are doomed to lead lives of .... well ... existential despair.

Not very happy.

Not very motivated.

As a matter of fact, just downright miserable usually.

It was Victor Frankl who stated that if one has enough of a ‘why’, one can always figure out the ‘how’. A strong enough ‘why’ can even lead one to successfully endure a Nazi concentration camp, as Frankl did.

A lack of purpose in life is endemic in our generation. There is not a strong sense of purpose among our young people, those in middle age or .... senior citizens. This elusive hummingbird knows no generational bounds. We cannot hang this one on young folks when every generation has a bad case of the ‘meaningless’ fever.

When one meets Christ, the entire purpose of life question is supposed to be settled and, in my experience, it was profoundly resolved for me in a flash. Soaked in existential despair, I went in to a house one night to hear someone speak of Christ and left with a new, durable meaning for my life. Went in sad and came out happy.

I wish I could put this in more sophisticated terms but that is exactly what occurred to me.

However ....

it is also my experience that this original purpose that infused us often tends to be diluted down by the cares of the world as we accumulate years. And then we are deposited back on the doorstep of existential despair, yet once again.

Not very happy.

Not very motivated.

As a matter of fact, just downright miserable.

First, if you are reading this and are a Christian and your ‘candle of existential purpose’ has dimmed, I challenge you to do three things:

be candid with God about this - yep, I suspect that he’s big enough to take it if you can just get around to telling him the truth about the state of your heart, 
Get around Christians who are motivated with a strong purpose of life ... yes, simply get in their presence and stay connected to them if you can find them ... and they are around, trust me, 
Start acting on what your gut is telling you to do ... trust your instincts, in other words ... this is not an end-run around God’s will rather this is often a run straight into God’s will ... for example, if you feel that God uses you to listen to folks who have crushing burdens, then seek someone you know is burdened and listen to them ... God does not want his hands (i.e., you and me) to be hands of remarkably good intentions but remarkably little action.

I want to stay on point number three for a bit. There is something about life on the planet earth that strips us of our trust in ourselves. Now, many would say this is a good thing, but I do not think it is a good thing. Rather, I think it is a tragedy because God has gifted us with wonderful minds, spirits and the like and he surely want us to learn to use these in our journeys, always in concert with his Spirit. Do not let this occur to you ... Renew your faith in your own instincts because, hey, God is in there (remember the Holy Spirit?).

These three things are not a guarantee for a persistent and strong ‘why’ in your life but if your candle is somewhat dim, doing these three things will help ensure that the dim will almost assuredly become brighter.

God's utterly unrecognizable hand

2009-02-26T12:24:00.000-06:00

When you end up in a deep deep hole, sometimes it is God who has made sure that this is where you wind up.

Gimme a break! Not possible!

He only wants good for his children! A deep deep hole is never his plan! Don't you listen to the tele-evangelists???

It is true that God wants only good for his children but the disguises that he puts on 'good' often make us run the other way, screaming, it seems.

So God never puts a deep, deep hole in our paths?

Tell that to Joseph, who discovered the hand of God at the bottom of the hole.

I conjecture that he did not immediately see God's purpose when his brothers threw him into the abyss. I guarantee you I would not have seen it. No way.

Joseph may not have seen it for years.

But he finally saw it.

As a matter of fact, when he at last reveals himself to his brothers in Genesis 45, he chalks up the entire experience to God's explicit plan for his life.

Hole and all!

If you live on earth, at some time in your life, you will have been thrown into a deep deep hole. It might be the result of someone else's actions or you may have willingly jumped in, happy as a clam, oblivious to what was occurring.

And you have seen this happen to others, haven't you? Maybe a brother, sister, spouse, child or friend.

It is never pretty.

But it is necessary.

What might have happened if Joseph had developed a huge resentment to his circumstances and indeed, his entire life as a result of this hole-experience? What if he walked around for years after being thrown into the hole fixated on his brothers and that unjust experience?

What if, in conversations with friends as they offered encouragement to him, Joseph always countered with, "Yeah, but you have never been thrown into a hole by your family like I was!"?

Rather, he trusted in God's control of all. He trusted in God's over-arching goodness-of-purpose animated behind the scenes in everything he experienced. He had faith that the unseen hand of the ever-present Father was painting a masterpiece in his life when everybody else saw a Rorschach test. He believed that in all of the confusion, chaos, upheaval, misery, insane anxiety, horror, disconnectedness and out-of-control feelings that he had, somewhere the hand of God was still busy and un-thwarted in constructing his life.

Do you flip out when you find yourself in a deep deep hole?

Do you curse God, shake your fist at him, and impute all sorts of perverse motivations to him? Do you constantly allude to your own misery when others attempt to coach you out of a tough spot?

Do you actually hide behind the deep deep hole that has been in your life rather than allowing God to use it for your good?

Do you become fearful and resentful of the hole in your life?

Here's the challenge ...

if you have experienced or are experiencing a cataclysmic personal situation, ask God to help you see his path in it. Ask God to open your eyes to the eventual plan that is being served by this experience. Even if you cannot see the whole thing, it helps if you can discern at least part of the lesson or purpose at work.

It helps.

If you see someone else experiencing their own deep deep hole, pray for them.

Pray that they understand, at least partially, that God's utterly unrecognizable hand is at work. Pray that they can catch a glimpse of God's hand fashioning, molding and transforming their life via the most inscrutable means possible.

Somehow, it helps.

And they, like Joseph, might find light in the darkest of places.

Fear and the vapor lion

2008-12-27T10:29:00.000-06:00

I love David Letterman's top ten lists.

If I had to list the top ten things that in the past presented obstacles in my life, fear would probably be number one. No, not probably ... it would be number one.

Let's talk about fear.

It has cold hands and can penetrate to the very core of our souls.

Nickelodeon created the concept of being slimed quite a few years ago. Green, goopy liquid would be dumped on an unsuspecting show member, much to the delight of the audience.

It temporarily immobilized the show member, stunning them, paralyzing them, disorienting them as the slime drenched them.

Fear is much like this.

Fear is like getting slimed.

Which brings me to my next point ... God is anti-slime, anti-fear.

If I understand the Scriptures correctly, God does not want fear to play a part in our lives. Because fear brings all sorts of bad things into our lives, all sorts of counter-productive things into our lives. It imports into our souls the anti-matter of all things good.

It is the devil's slime.

But wait, there's more!

Fear will throw you into a psychological prison where no Christian belongs. Fear will bring out the handcuffs that reach way beyond your wrists all the way into your spirit. Fear will wrap you with steel linen and introduce death where life had previously been, turning you into a mummy, only not of the Egyptian sort.

There is a proverb that states, "There is a man who flees when no lion is pursuing."

Think about this: fear has this man running with all his might away from a chasing lion yet there is no lion. Only a vapor lion that fear has constructed in the man's mind.

Fear is like this. Even when there is nothing to fear, absolutely nothing, it constructs a vapor lion that rears up on its hind legs and roars loudly and ferociously. Fear creates scenarios that paralyze us and off we go running - paralyzed to do anything other than run.

The metaphor of running is very instructive here - when one runs, you really can't do much else simultaneously other than run. You cannot, for example, mow the yard, watch football, attend church, or meet a friend at Starbucks while simultaneously engaged in running - running consumes all your focus and energy.

And there you have it!

Our reaction to fear can crowd everything else out. Our response to fear can render us virtually useless for anything else. Fear can taser us and down we go. The vapor lion can maul us and maul us some more.

But it gets even better!

Fear that is unchecked can force us into a corner and cause us to make poor choices that can have hideous consequences on our lives in the present but especially in the future. Unconfronted fear can cause us to avoid life altogether. Unaddressed fear can cause us to pedal our bicycle with all our might trying to outrun the vapor lion, exhausting us and rendering us ineffective for anything wothwhile.

Finally, fear draws a box around any hope we have, then slowly, ever so slowly, shrinks the box, effectively extinguishing our hope. And when hope is gone, our bridge to anything productive in our lives simply collapses and falls into the river.

Are you someone who runs when no lion is actually chasing?

Have fear and dread hobbled you deep in your spirit?

Has fear become the prison in which you are serving a life sentence?

Here's what I did to banish the vapor lion.

I started by taking deep into my spirit 2 Timothy 1:7 which states that 'God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.'

I meditated on it. I read and re-read and re-read it. I pondered it.

I decided that I needed to believe it. So I began saying it out loud. You will never know how much this simple act helps (until you read a book like Brain Rules that gives a neurosurgeon's view of it).

I determined that fear would not continuously invent vapor lions that kept me running, with all the resultant issues popping up in my life that I have outlined above. My faith in 2 Timothy 1:7 was my vapor lion terminator.

Next, I talked about my struggle with fear with folks that I trusted. That simple act really slammed the cage door on the vapor lion.

Why?

Well, God has so designed our souls and spirits that simply speaking of our struggles with a trusted one is therapeutic to a degree that counseling communities have long acknowledged. Simply speaking of it. Not speaking of it and receiving advice but simply disclosing verbally the inner reality.

Long before Freud developed his psychiatric theories, he was astonished to find that when his patients in his Austrian hospital simply spoke to him of their problems, they got better. He usually only listened. And they got better. Simply by speaking of their issues.

There is a divine magic and power in this simple act.

Do you know someone who struggles with simple everyday fear, panic attacks, dread or phobias? Pray for them in faith and let them read this.

Do you struggle with the same? Do you find yourself fleeing when no lion chases?

Reflect on my thoughts above then take action.

Being slimed with fear will soon cease.

That vapor lion that chases you will be sent back to the circus from which he escaped.

And you can enjoy peace.

Clouds, Financial Panic and Sunburns

2008-10-10T13:04:00.001-05:00

My father was a pilot.

He many times had a ruddy red face, even in the middle of winter when sunshine was scarce. It is important to know that this was not his regular complexion. He only had it when he was flying. At those times, he often looked sunburned.

I asked him about this once and he looked at me and said, "Well, if you think about it, I fly above the clouds where it is always sunny. I can fly around the thunderheads and above the rest of it so I am always in the sunshine."

My father used quite a few aviation examples, like, at the end of his life, when he found out his lung cancer was inoperable. He looked at my brother Charles and me and said, "When a pilot knows he is going to crash, the best thing he can do is make sure it is a controlled crash. And that is what I am going to have to do."

And he died in a very dignified, 'controlled crash', surrounded by prayer and his family.

But back to his flying above the clouds example.

Lately, we as a nation have had quite a few financial storms ... economic tornadoes and massive financial hurricane have affected our economy enormously. It is very easy for the Christian to become fearful and consumed with anxiety. It is very easy for the Christian to throw faith overboard and become paralyzed with worry and dread about the future.

Time to fly around these thunderheads. Time to fly above these troublesome clouds.

Hebrews 12:2 comes in handy here: 'Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.'

In the Greek, perhaps a better rendering is: 'Let us look away from all that distracts us and focus on Jesus ...'

Learning to look past the fear-provoking events of this life and keep our faith focused on Christ while the waves of this world crash around us, is a key to 'flying above the clouds'. Learning to make Christ our center of attention while the tornadoes of life reek havoc all around us, is a surefire way to find that rock in the midst of life's quicksand.

Are you fearful, worried and anxious right now? It doesn't matter if the event that is weighing you down is a financial meltdown, a failing marriage or simply trying to find your path in life. All of these are thunderheads, where I come from.

Center yourself anew on Christ and give him that problem that is pushing your face underwater. Consciously ask him to take care of you. And believe that he will.

Like my father, your faith will soon have a ruddy complexion as it propels you above the clouds, into the sunshine that never grows dark.

What a great thing this financial meltdown is!!!

2008-10-04T09:36:00.000-05:00

The newspaper headlines are grim. The online media headlines are dire.

The TV news portrays the current events with all the horror of an economic Freddie-Krueger event.

It's almost like we live in a fallen world, isn't it?

As a matter of fact, it is high time that we Christians remind ourselves that this world is indeed not yet in the kingdom of God. All sorts of perverse, horrible, deadly, unfair and downright annoying things not only might occur, they will certainly occur.

Even global credit meltdowns. Even Great Depressions. Even 9/11 events.

Again, it's almost like we live in a fallen world, isn't it?

Yet this current period of time offers rare opportunities for those of us who love Jesus Christ.

I have studied a bit the behavior of Christians during the Great Depression.

Three common themes emerged:

1) there was economic suffering for Christians ... homes lost, fortunes lost, days and nights of hunger,
2) yet Christians continued to trust God and they eventually came through, and
3) God's work continued forward during this desperate time.

Actually, during times of huge reversals on national / international scales, there are great opportunities for Christians to move the kingdom forward. Fear is often widespread and that can lead to openings for Christians to 'say a word' of comfort to either struggling fellow-Christians or those who do not know Christ.

God can use the fear many feel to open a window in their spirits to his grace. God can use the panic many feel to finally open the door to his love that so many have nailed shut for so many years.

God can use frozen IRAs, worthess stocks and foreclosed homes to re-acquaint Christians with the 'fleeting nature of riches'. The true riches, Jesus said, are not to be found on Wall Street but in his kingdom.

See how the current economic crisis can re-orient us back to true riches?

Have you hung your hat on the temporal riches of this world inordinately? Do you understand how it can all be gone in the blink of an eye, no matter how prudent your financial moves have been? Have you comprehended that there is only one bank that will never fail and it is not found on earth? Are you laying up riches in this bank today?

If not, why not?

Ponder these thoughts, reflect on your attitudes and receive the gift of new commitment to eternal riches that God is willing to give you as you move through this difficult period of time.

What a great thing this financial meltdown is!!!

Repentance is the dullest word imaginable

2008-09-30T21:38:00.000-05:00

There is a story about a little boy who had a mind of his own. His mother had asked him repeatedly to sit down at the dinner table but he refused. Finally, after threatening a grounding, the little boy relented and sat down but said defiantly as he sat, "I'm sitting down but on the inside I am standing up!"

This is a really wild world in which we live. Up is often down and south often turns out to be north. Good looks like evil and the devil is transformed into an angel of light.

Yet what I am writing below has really helped me.

I may be in a season of refreshing with my Christianity ... but something has really come home to me in the past 2 weeks ... how freeing it is to repent each day, preferably in the morning before you have dug yourself a hole.

It is easy to do and should look something like this:

1) confess a fault or sin you have committed
2) ask God to forgive you of it through Jesus Christ
3) ask God to change your heart through His Spirit so that the sin or fault is less likely to occur again
4) go back to # 1 until you are finished

But wait! there's more!

One further step.

Ask God to shine His light on your heart to expose your motives. Ask God to shine His light on the darkest places of your heart.

This assures that your repentance is genuine and that you are not 'standing up on the inside' while sitting down, like the little boy.

Having completed the action above, you are through with your repentance.

Why is it so freeing?

My theory: our spirits get off-center as we go through this world on a daily basis. We are subject to trials and temptations and sometimes give in when we should be standing strong. You know this is true.

We need a daily cleansing of this and repentance is a fantastic way to do it.

I feel stronger each day when I do this ... stronger in my spirit, less apt to fall into discouragement and fear, more apt to walk in His way. I feel less critical of others. I feel less self-centered and more 'on the verge of' praise.

So, don't be like the little boy whose actions did not line up with his heart. Come before God every morning and do what I have outlined above and see the difference it makes.

Start tomorrow morning, ok?

Chicken Little, meet Jesus Christ

2008-09-29T11:24:00.000-05:00

The financial world has been in a free-fall for the past several days. Credit markets have resembled a car's engine that has run out of oil ... in other words, the pistons have become welded to the cylinders. There have been runs on banks. Unprecedented things have occurred. On a global basis.

Sounds like we live in an imperfect world where anything can happen, doesn't it?

If we agree with the previous sentence, then why are we surprised when calamity rings the doorbell?

Fortunately, for the Christian, there is peace of mind.

It all begins when we approach God and put our fears and worries in his hands. We put our IRAs, our jobs, our 401ks and the like, in his hands. We put our visions of no gas, no food, no money, etc in his hands. We place our anxieties about our loved ones, macroeconomics, and everything else that weighs us down into his hands.

One of my favorite scriptures is found in 1Peter 5:7 - 'Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.'

All of this is done in prayer, of course.

And that means that CNN needs to be turned off, the book needs to be put down, the video games needs to be turned off, Internet surfing needs to cease (for a little bit anyway) so that you can actually pray.

Which leads me to my next question: do you actually pray?

Or do you think about praying but don't actually ever get around to doing it?

When you finish reading this post and leave a glowing comment, I challenge you to take 5 minutes to get away and pray about those things that actually bother or frighten you. I challenge you to pray about those things that keep you up at night. I challenge you to place all your fears and anxieties in God's hands.

Chicken Little, meet Jesus Christ.

I'm Not a Morning Person ...

2008-09-26T15:43:00.000-05:00

but there is really something beautiful about praying in the morning ... this morning, for example, I took about 20 minutes to do 3 things:

1) praise and thank God for his showering of blessings on me personally
2) go through my repentance list (took 19 of the 20 minutes)
3) intercede for those I love and for our leaders (notice the difference ... wink!)

This always strengthens me. Always. Without fail.

It can do the same for you.

My challenge to you ... start tomorrow morning off with prayer. OK? Deal?

You will feel better, less fearful and far more adept at taking on the day.

Prayer and the Presidential Elections

2008-09-25T23:46:00.000-05:00

In thinking of the last posting, I feel that I need to add that if we were to invest as much time on our knees praying for our nation as we invest in being engaged in the political process, we would be better off and so would our nation.

So few of us actually spend time with God interceding for this great land. No, CNN crowds it out, doesn't it?

Here's my challenge to you today: Spend five minutes daily praying for this nation and this election. Don't try to dictate to God who should win ... just intercede ... ask His blessings on the election and on our nation.

Five minutes daily. Can you spare it?

The 2008 Presidential Election

2008-09-25T23:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess I have reached the end of my intellectual and spiritual rope regarding this presidential election. Funny, it feels very comfortable here!

If I hear another Christian say, "Democrats are Christians and Republicans are not" or "Republicans are Christians and Democrats are not", I think I will explode.

We, as Christians, should not ally ourselves with temporal, political structures of this world. They are all unable to withstand even the slightest moral scrutiny before they collapse. Democrats charge that Republicans defend the unborn but will gladly and quickly bomb the born while Republicans point out that Democrats are all socialists and baby-killers.

Both parties, in fact all political parties, cannot present airtight cases that rise above hypocrisy. Why? Because they are creations of man. And therefore very fallible.

Did I say not vote? No! Please vote your conscience. It is your duty as a citizen.

But do not go around attempting to persuade others that any political party is closer to God than its rivals.

Before Jerry Falwell came on the scene, virtually all Christian leaders took this view. Put your energies into promoting the kingdom of God and vote your conscience privately. To do anything else would be a disservice to the kingdom of God.

Mr. Falwell came with a different message ... ally yourself with a political party and make a difference for the kingdom in the here and now.

I think he did a great service by perhaps bringing into focus the civic duties of Christians but it has gone overboard, in my opinion. WAY overboard.

It is not uncommon for Christians to put far more effort into politics than into promoting the kingdom. And it is a sad sight indeed to see a Christian arguing McCain's position or Obama's position. Who knows how many non-believers have been alienated from Christ because they did not quite see eye-to-eye with the stated 'Christian' position?

There is no 'Christian' political position. The Christian position has to do with doing good, loving God and walking humbly with Him. It does not have anything to do with endorsing a particular candidate because he or she is more Christian. The 'more-ness' of a person's Christianity is completely up to God.

In summary, please do not say 'vote Republican because they are closer to God' or 'vote Democratic because they are closer to God' because you are just plain wrong. You should transcend the political parties because, in not doing so, you might find yourself having to defend fallible structures of this world and I, for one, have never seen anyone do this successfully.