Category: Uncategorized

Dear American Christians:

This is an open letter to all my brothers & sisters in Christ who are also Americans.  I feel compelled to write these words God has given me to share.  We find ourselves conflicted in the midst of a culture war, and battle lines are being drawn between us.  Nationalistic conservatives and liberals alike are staking claim to their perception of Christ’s concern for our country, and His plan for our future.  Polarity, like what we are experiencing, is bound to come in this world…but woe to us followers of Christ when we get caught up in it.  We vilify our brothers for the specks in their eyes while we have big sticks in our own!  I’m afraid that we have become quite misguided in our understanding of who Jesus is and what He really wants for all stripes of His followers.  He’s not focused on prospering our country; He’s calling the hearts of all His people back to following Him, regardless of the direction our country goes.  Worldly powers will come and go, but Christ’s testimony through His people will endure as we shine His character & values in the midst of a world that is watching!

The tragic reality is that many of us are so captivated by the offerings of the world around us, we have lost touch with the character of the real, historical, Biblical Christ.  When we look carefully into the scriptures, what we see of Him is so revolutionary to our own cherished ways of thinking & behaving that, in all honesty, we would rather not follow the Jesus of reality.  So we create an avatar of Him in our imagination that blends well with our values and dreams.  We want a Christ who will grant us prosperity in this world, yet the Christ who is actually there beckons us to lay down our lives in this world in order to follow Him.  Even though we attend “Churches” and call ourselves “Christians”, many of us are following a false Christ of our own making…while the real one whispers in our ears to come back to Him and His Ways so that He can be revealed through us.  THIS is the travesty of the American Church: We have forgotten our first love, turned our backs on our Master, and have become conflicted & wayward like the early church in Laodicea:

Revelation 3:14-19“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year.  I love the traditions & trees & lights & music & gifts…and the general sense of goodwill it promotes in people.  Yet, as a follower of Christ, it’s a bit weird with how Santa Claus and the stressful shopping rush stomps the nativity story about Jesus deeper & deeper into the snow each year.  There’s also the indignant voices from within Christendom calling for our society to “Keep Christ In Christmas.”  The tide of public opinion has definitely shifted when it comes to keeping the “religious” aspects of Christian holy days out of the public sphere.  There are different sides to this, but regardless of how you see it, I’d like to put forth something totally different….a revolutionary thought that I consider to be the most important thing of all. What if followers of Jesus were less concerned with protecting their treasured man-made traditions, and instead focused attention & energy on keeping Christ In Themselves!  God isn’t concerned with outward appearances, He cares about our hearts.

It’s a well-documented fact that church attendance & influence has been dramatically dropping for a couple of decades, while people are leaving in disillusioned droves due to the hypocrisy & irrelevance they cannot reconcile with the ways of Jesus and the Early Church they read about in the Bible.  Church leaders & members blame our nation’s continuing drift away from the Judeo/Christian values of our past and wage war against culture…fighting the wrong battles while the world rolls their eyes at our duplicity.  In this, we discredit the character & Kingdom of our Namesake in vain attempts to protect our practices & reputations.  In my opinion, the culprit for the Kingdom’s decline in America is not “all those Non-Christians” who are diluting the waters…it’s us.  

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” (Brennan Manning)  

Look at the polls and look around you, Christians as a whole aren’t living appreciably different than anyone else in American culture.  When the people of Jesus no longer look like Jesus, then I say that we have a real problem. We, along with all Americans, are known throughout the world as the most privileged & pampered & pompous people in the world.  What does this look like?  It’s revealed in our values…values spring from our true beliefs….beliefs are born from what we put our faith & hope in.  In a very real sense, although we’re not physically bowing down to physical idols, we Americans absolutely worship false gods…and those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ are scarcely different:

Wealth (greed)
Freedom (independence/choice)
Popularity/acceptance/approval
Sex/romance (lust)
Pleasure (“God wants me to be happy, so…”)
Self/narcissism (pride)
Comfort/laziness (sloth)
Reputation/fame (power/influence)
Rebellion (that which is forbidden)
Fulfillment (gluttony)
More (envy)
Control/precision
Adventure/experiences (hobbies, sports)

False hopes come from believing lies, and we have swallowed the hook-line-sinker of the world’s corrupted values with one side of our mouths and prayed that Jesus will bless us and our country with the other.  It’s no wonder we are the most depressed & troubled developed nation in the world!  People of Jesus, why are you so downcast? Put your hope in God!

I was thinking about the “12 Days Of Christmas”, one of my favorite Christmas songs; and felt compelled by the Spirit to write “12 Ways Of Christ” between now and the holiday that bears His Name.  All of this may piss you off….or it may cause you to step back and take an honest look in the mirror…that’s what I’m doing too.  This is a 12-part blog intended to shine light on errors of thought & practice we get entangled with in our journeys with Christ..and call us back to Him.  Here are a few Biblical voices to consider:

James 4:4-10 (excerpts)
“You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”

Amos 5:21-24“I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies…I will not accept your offerings..Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.”

1 Peter 2:11-16“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles [in this world], to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us…For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.”

Matthew 5:13-16“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

More tomorrow…

This morning God is teaching me things – for me and perhaps for you…

I love Thanksgiving!

I love food…sometimes even more than I love people!  I love the flavors and textures, the sensations of chewing & swallowing delicious & creamy morsels of decadent indulgence.  There’s a lot more to food than simple survival and nourishment.  There’s a full-ness I associate with Thanksgiving feasts that brings me warm fuzzies.  All Thanksgiving meals end with me feeling so overly satiated that I’m honestly a bit uncomfortable for awhile.  It’s my annual gorging event.

Indulging in good food & drink makes me feel physically full…temporarily rotund…and generates thanks.

Thanksgiving means mud football, which appeals to the adventurous sport-o in me…although the risk of injury gets closer & scarier each year.  Running & throwing & tackling relatives & friends in the mud…throwing passes to my fleet-footed children & nieces & nephew whom I held as infants…Watching with pride as my beautiful & sophisticated wife laughs uncontrollably while being caked & spattered with mud.  That’s good stuff.  It awakens something in me that gives me joy and hope.

Being zany is good for the soul of us who must act like adults in this serious world…it generates thanks.

I love being with family…catching up on what’s going on, but mostly recalling old memories that are cherished.  I have flashbacks every year of Thanksgivings past with aunts & uncles, with Grampa Bob, playing hide & seek with my cousins.  Holidays like Thanksgiving create a direct connection with my childhood…which for me is mostly fond memories.

Cherished memories make me feel socially full…with a grin….and generates thanks.

When I’m filled to overflowing with thanks, it gushes out to others all around me.  That’s how it’s supposed to work…that’s how God designed it.  He creates and provides, we receive and are filled with thanks, then we share what we’ve received with others.

In a world that constantly beckons & pulls us to believe we need more to be happy, I love the opportunity Thanksgiving provides us to examine the treasures we already have, express our gratitude to God, and experience the pleasure of loving others.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I heard a story yesterday about a particularly naive young man who seems to think that everything that happens in his life is God’s fault.  He’s quite sincere in his beliefs, but just immature in understanding the dynamic tension between God’s sovereignty and our accountability for choices we make.  

I want to elaborate on yesterday’s blog post, about forgiveness.  I wrote it before hearing anything about the cowardly attacks by idiot ISIS terrorists in Paris yesterday.  Forgiveness does not mean holding up one’s hands and allowing evil to flourish!  Forgiveness does not cancel-out justice!  It’s both/and.  Forgiveness in this circumstance is about seeing evil monsters for who they are, and responding with justice, but seeking God for healing & hope within so that we don’t fall prey to their twin masters of hatred and retribution.

I’ve taught my children, their whole lives, that revenge doesn’t work.  It perpetuates evil by turning a corner of our own hearts dark.  So how do we protect our hearts from evil while making sure that the perpetrators of evil get what’s coming to them?

1) Carry out justice in a manner that is commensurate and emotionally under-control.  Witch-hunts are emotional endeavors that end with punishments that far outweigh the crime….and they do more damage to those to carry them out than on those they punish.

2) Trust God for vengeance.  Romans 12:19-21 says “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Careful now, don’t assume that “feeding the offender” means giving-in to evil demands or letting perpetrators escape consequences.  Look beneath the surface…Why does someone like an ISIS terrorist want to kill innocent people?  Because they’re ignorant, emotionally weak, and confused.  Those are the areas where they are hungry and thirsty.  Is it possible to hold out expressions of love and understanding to those who are misguided and evil, even while pursuing to end their lives with justice?  Yes, it has to be.

Let me be perfectly clear.  I am not a pacifist, and I believe that terrorist organizations and those who fight for them should be hunted down and brought to justice.  Yes that means killing a lot of them.  That is justice.  But I also know that I am in danger of letting evil have a foothold in my heart if my desire for their death overwhelms my devotion to loving my neighbor.  That is about forgiveness.

Forgiveness and justice are not mutually exclusive.

I was thinking about the etymology of the word forgiveness this morning while I was swimming laps.  How was THAT for an opening line?!  Etymology is “the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history” says the dictionary.  I was thinking about it because I found myself having hard feelings about a few somebodies in my life while my body worked and my senses were numbed by the repetitive motion.  I pray alot when I workout.

Anyway, what is forgiveness…really?  Letting someone off the hook? Giving them a break?  What about when people do wrong and desperately need to suffer some consequences in order for lessons of wisdom to to bore through their thick skulls!  Like mine.  Yes, consequences are good….and we need them.  But dismissing wrongdoing, in my opinion, is not forgiveness…it’s stupidity.  It’s actually really confusing, isn’t it?

Forgiveness is what someone does wrong to me or someone I love…or to some random person but I find out about it and get pissed off.  The anger that arises in me is the issue of forgiveness, not the action I take regarding the offender.  Forgiveness is something that must happen in me, regardless of what happens to the offender….if not, the lack of forgiveness in me will give birth to other, more sinister masters.  Ah…I said “masters!”  YES, because as we all know, the result of unforgiveness is the cruelest of masters!… and it will captivate you and shackle your joy until you bring it out into the light and ask forgiveness for it.

Interesting that we must ask forgiveness in order to be released from the demons of unforgiveness.

When Jesus’ followers asked Him to teach them to pray, He said (among other things), “…’Father…Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us’…For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”  

Really?  It’s there, check it out.  Deal with it.  Pray about it.  Learn from it.

Forgiveness is the intentional and voluntary process by which a victim undergoes a change in feelings and attitude regarding an offense, lets go of negative emotions such as vengefulness, with an increased ability to wish the offender well. (Wikipedia)

None of this means that the offender should get away with whatever he or she has done.  Actually, that would not be good for him/her…and would certainly not promote justice.  Consequences are necessary and good, but the hardness of hatred inside us when we do not forgive is like cancer.

Forgiveness is giving a precious gift to someone who has just spit in your face…BEFORE they say sorry.  I used to think that forgiveness was something I give after someone says sorry…but that’s not it.  It’s FOR-GIVING.  Giving something before.  This is impossible without the resources that God has planted inside us.  Seek Him.

“One day Jesus said to his disciples, ‘There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin. So watch yourselves!'”  Luke 17:1-3

Today I’m furious because someone I love is being influenced by someone else’s promotion of evil.  As difficult as it is to watch someone you love struggle, the emotions are less complicated and more raw toward those who act as the stumbling block.  Anger wells up in me, desire for justice and vengeance when wrongdoing is promoted and perpetrated by selfish idiots toward others for their own pleasure…but I must, in that very moment, digress and seek repentance myself for my own sin…my own propensity to desire and act upon what is against my Creator.  I cannot totally control my own behavior, much less anyone else’s!

I do pray for justice, but only the same as that which I would desire for myself when I fall into sin….as well as those I love.

“A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”  2 Timothy 2:24-26

Contrary to popular belief, seeking & experiencing God is not about you.  The Bible is not a self-help book for seeking emotional benefits or material prosperity.  It’s His Story, not ours.  Our role is to understand His work in human history, learn to hear His voice, and grow in obedience….everything else is byproduct.

He’s really there, and here, you know.  The Spirit of Jesus (aka “The Holy Spirit” or “Holy Ghost”) is given to us as guide, counselor, chastener, comforter, etc., not with the end result of making us better…but for bringing us closer into daily connection with our Heavenly Father and His work in us & through us.  The result of this does, indeed, produce wonderful results of love, joy, peace, etc. in us…but these are byproducts, not the goal.  When we make our own benefits the goal, we start worshipping them instead of the giver of gifts…and fall into a self-centered cycle of idolatry.

Following Jesus…being a “Christian”, or literally “Little Christ”… is about knowing Him better & better each day, learning to hear His voice and to love and obey Him all day every day in increasing measure…trusting that, with Him in control, our life circumstances and emotional health will fall into conformity with His character and His plans for us.  He can be trusted.

Here are some nuggets I’ve gleaned lately from author Henry Blackaby in “Experiencing God”:

• “Now that the Holy Spirit has been given to believers, He is the One who guides you into all truth and teaches you all things.  You understand spiritual truth because the Holy Spirit is working in your life.
• “Too often when the Spirit of God speaks to us, we launch into a protracted discussion with Him, questioning the correctness of His directions.  Moses tried it at the burning bush (see Exodus 3:11-4:13), and it limited him for the rest of his life.
• “I encourage you to review on a regular basis what you sense God has been saying to you.  If God speaks and you hear but do not respond, a time could come when you will not hear His voice.  Disobedience can lead to a ‘famine of hearing the words of the Lord’ (Amos 8:11)…Make up your mind now that when the Spirit of God speaks, you are going to do what He says.
• “He wants you to recognize His voice and know His will.  Your relationship to Him is the key to hearing when God speaks to you  If you do not already have that kind of relationship with God, start right now by praying.  Ask God to guide you into such a relationship, and commit yourself to invest the time and effort to know Him better.