Buzzards, tin cans and putting your car in reverse

When I was younger, my father would take my brother and me into the forest with our guns (we were old enough to have been taught gun safety) to target practice.  It was called plinking.  We would spend Sunday afternoons just plinking.

Our targets were as elusive as tin cans and coke bottles.  We would also lie on our backs and shoot at buzzards as they circled high, high above us, looking for their next tasty meal.

The tin cans and cokes we often hit ... we never hit a buzzard.

But  it didn't matter.  We were with our father and having a great time.  

After a while, we would pack up and head home.

Completely satisfied.

My father has been deceased over 20 years.  Yet the memory of time spent with him is still satisfying, like a cool, refreshing breeze settling over my spirit.

Our heavenly father cannot be seen, touched or perceived by any of our 5 senses.  Yet he is as real as my earthly father ever was.

The cool breeze inwardly that I feel when I think of my dad and those times with him have to be available to us with our heavenly father. The only difference as I see it is that there are no memories involved, it is a continuing present-day reality.  

Persistent, viable and actual.

The outward world is often chaotic, rife with literal and figurative tornados, tsunamis and earthquakes.  

Yet our inner world can be one of a protected harbor, a placid pond, a place of cool breezes.  

Step back today from the rim of your personal volcano ... put your emotional car into reverse for just a moment today and back away from the grinding traffic jam that might be bottling your life ... close your eyes and spend time with your heavenly father.

The times of refreshing will surely be summoned to your spirit.

At least that's how I see it on this Saturday morning.

Invert the confusion, please

Never confuse God's timing with God's capability.  When the train doesn't show up according to your time-table, it doesn't mean that it isn't on the tracks.

Faith that is better than Ambien

I just finished reading the twelfth chapter of Acts this morning. Paul, as usual, is teetering on the edge of imminent death, this time at the hands of Herod.

Herod, ever risk-averse, plans an execution the next morning therefore has made sure that Paul doesn't ruin his plans by doing something sneaky like breaking out of prison. He puts many many guards everywhere around Paul. He even shackled each of Paul's arms to guards. Let's face it, this guy was taking no chances.

So, let's make sure we get the picture here. Paul is going to be killed in less than 12 hours. He also has no way of escape because he is in prison with 15 million guards everywhere.

What would you do?

What would I do?

What did Paul do?

He laid down and went to sleep. According to the Scripture, he slept like a baby.  He had deep, peaceful sleep.

Apparently not a care in the world… It was almost as if there was nothing on his mind!

And it wasn't because Paul did not know what was going down… he did.  He was a very learned  man who probably had it all figured out before he was even brought to the prison.

Folks, I don't know about you but I do not have this type of faith.

In the same breath, I must hasten to add that I want this type of faith. 

I need this type of faith. 

Faith like this comes when we experience God ... Not when we read about him ... Not when we hear others speak of how they have experienced God.

All of that is good but it seems to me that you have to be knocked down by a waterfall before you can authoritatively speak of the power of falling water. You have to actually put the fork into the cheesecake then move it to your mouth, chew and swallow before you can truthfully describe the glories of that near-divine dessert.

Override your internal censor and listen for his prompting today ... Turn the tv, twitter, Facebook, email and texting off.

I know, I know ... this is ridiculously radical ... I am asking us to look within ... novel concept ... but I want us to ask God to help us experience him today. Then sit back.

We just might fall asleep.

Thank God that the rock is in my shoe and not in my head

There was a job that I really, really wanted, a long time ago.

And I thought I got it.  I was even notified that I got it.  I was ecstatic.  I thanked God over and over.

But I was notified about 5 hours later that the offer was rescinded. (by the way, I love it when that happens)

I was crushed.  I was angry at God.  I was confused.  Then I turned the anger on myself.  I was a loser, I told myself.   I was a joke.  I was no good.

Isn’t this the journey that disappointment takes in us?   

 This is how it works  in me and I suspect that this may be how it works in you.

Think about a bitter disappointment you have had.  Now let’s get our arms around it.

Since we profess to follow Christ, we must put this in God’s hands.  I mean, we have to ... there is really no other option.  Or else it is all a big fairy tale.

In Romans, we read that  ‘all things work together for the good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.’

In my case, I had to believe that it was God’s will that the door to the job was slammed shut.  Perhaps I would have suffered something that was not good in the new job and God spared me from it.  Perhaps there was an opportunity that would be better for me that I would not have been available for.  Who knows?

Our Father does. Yep, he does.  He's the only one with that kind of time telescope in his backpack.

What about your disappointment?

Have you given your disappointment to God yet?  Or are you still in the spin cycle of disappointment, going round and round and round and round?

With all the joy absolutely forced out of you.

Let me challenge you to give your disappointment to God.  You probably won't have peace in your heart until you do.  

How do you turn your disappointment over to God?

You pray.  You communicate with God.  You say, ‘God, I turn this disappointment over to you.  I give you all of the circumstances, all of my hurt and confusion.  I trust you with this disappointment and ask you to help me move through this.  Help me gain wisdom from this disappointment. Amen’

It is crucial that you seek wisdom from any and all disappointments that you endure.  Let’s face it, disappointments are part of the stuff that life is made of.

Some people allow disappointments to change the course of their lives.  For the worse.  You do not want this to be you.  You do not want to be the one who encounters a disappointment so large and so persistent that it knocks your life off course.

So let’s review ... when faced with disappointment:

1) nothing wrong with feeling bad about it for a short period of time ... that is part of being congruent with your feelings and being congruent.  So don’t beat yourself up over  feeling down and confused when a disappointment comes your way - no matter the size.

2) turn the disappointment over to God

3) ask God for the wisdom that you need to glean from the disappointment.

Learning to handle disappointment as a stepping stone rather than a millstone around your neck can be a key to growing in Christ.

Oh by the way, that job offer that was rescinded ... that entire company lasted only seven months longer before it ceased operations.

Interesting, huh?

When you awaken with a headache ...

You know those days ... you awaken as if a bulldozer had decided to back over your head.

Your mood is as dark as the inside of an unopened vienna sausage can.

Your energy level has been in the minus column for so long it needs a GPS to find its way back.

In short, planet earth is not where you feel called to be on that particular morning.

Even coffee doesn't help ... much.

Just say 'help' to God.

Just say 'good grief' to God.

It almost is immaterial what you say, just communicate with God.

I find that when I am in life's landfill on particularly de-energized mornings, it is helpful to just lay out the facts to God as I see them.  He usually doesn't blink.

Not that my morning suddenly gets new and shiny again.  Not that my morning puts on a super-hero cape.

But it does get a little better.  Has something to do with the Holy Spirit blasting through my coma, I suspect.

Did I mention that I am glad he made coffee?   I believe he understands us.

Seriously ... just let go

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?

Masters of exclusion

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.

Complaining 101

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?

Starting the Day in the Midst of Torrents of Doubts

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?

The Centurion is Past Due

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

 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.

He is everywhere

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

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!

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

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

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 ...

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

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!

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!