A time to mourn and a time to dance...

It’s a little after midnight in January 2011. Tonight the president spoke at a memorial service for the 6 people who died in Arizona at a political gathering. When the news of the shooting came across my twitter page, I was shocked but as I sat and watched CNN for hours that Saturday, I mourned. I worked for a little less than two years for two different US Congressmen. That moment in time was a moment that I could just as easily been standing in.

At church one of our pastors reminded us that as Christians we are called to have joy with those who have joy and to mourn with those who mourn, but I think we don’t know how to do that. I think our perception of God is too tied into a view of benevolence that doesn’t accept mourning as a possibility. We question God’s goodness when people suffer. We say that it happened for a reason. But do we mourn with those who mourn?

Do we mourn when tsunamis wipe out thousands, when earthquakes level islands, when hurricanes displace and destroy lives, and when countless other disasters befall on our fellow man? It’s easy to be happy for those who have great things happen in their lives, but have we become so callous to pain that we are unable to mourn?

As I sit and write this, I think of a funeral I am to attend tomorrow of a woman who lived a full life and who desired to see God. We celebrate her life, but we ought to also mourn her passing. We ought to mourn with her family who just lost one they love.

It’s time that we did more than just be happy for those who are happy. When we see the world around us mourning, we need to mourn with them and show them the Comforter who can help to take away the pain.

There's a time to mourn and there's a time to dance.

Emergency

I simply cannot get Leeland's song Tears of the Saints out of my head lately. It breaks my heart once again for the dechurched. "This is an Emergency!"

We need to be crying out for God's mercy for our neglect of the brokenhearted. And then we need to do something about it. "This is an Emergency!"

Let's make a deal...

I want us to sit down and come to an agreement. Its time that we quit our dumb Christian prayer cliches and its time that we talk to God with a genuine heart. Perhaps it isn't even the cliches that bother me, but maybe its the poor understanding of Scripture...

Heard this week:

"please save her God like you saved Jonah from the belly of a whale"

Um... well let me give you context: 16 year old girl decides to sail around the world solo. Sends distress call. Church member prays above prayer. (She did get saved by a french boat, whew). So why does this matter? Doesn't God want obedience more than sacrifice? Well yes, but these two situations are totally different... God provided a whale to Jonah after Jonah made the decision to disobey God.

This was the church...

The day of the sabbath has arrived. People from every corner gathered in the synagogue. Clothing was considered their best. A sacrifice was required for atonement. A list of rules was established beyond what was stated in the Law. This was specifically engineered to usher in the coming of the Messiah because the thinking was that humanity must be perfect before the Messiah would arrive. Clearly they didn't listen to their prophets about the signs of the Messiah.

This is the church...

Sunday is here and its the only really practical day to have people come to church, although in many circles Wednesday night is also required. People drive from all over the county. Atonement isn't necessary because no one is honest about their sin. After all, if everyone is perfect, I better not be transparent. Biblical mandate has been perfected by personal preference. This is specifically engineered to not offend the older members of the church.

____________________________________________________________________
What's the difference? What happened to the message of Jesus in our "don't" Christian society? How many people are leaving or not coming because we are closed off? When will we stop asking people to measure up before they can receive grace?

Here's to new beginnings.

I've landed in Pa. I hate the idea of starting over, especially since the last three years of my life were significant, but this next chapter is going to be epic.

Thanks for being part of a chapter in my life. I hope that together we can keep providing great text for God's story.

Bad things keep happening on my horizon line...

War. Earthquakes. Famine. Genocide. Child Soldiers. Suicide. Cancer. Sicknesses. This list could continue for a long time. It could continue to depress us. It could continue to sow seeds of doubt in our mind about the care of an infinite God.

We ask why when bad things happen. Is that wrong? Is it wrong to question God? Why would a loving God do such a thing, whatever that thing is? The answer to that question isn't yes or no. On one hand God wants you to cast your cares on Him. He wants you to fall at his feet and look to him for answers. But the same God who wants us to fall there, wants us also to rest there. The prophet Isaiah writes, "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in You." (26:3). Promise.

A few months ago I asked you to consider that why doesn't matter, but that Who does. That's easy to say, but when we watch endless footage of places like a Baghdad street bazaar that was just blown up by a suicide bomber or footage of hundreds of thousands dead in Haiti, or when we're going through the breakup or sitting with a loved one who just got that terrible diagnosis, its hard to think of the One that matters and not the matter at hand. Its hard not to be introspective and not Christ-reflective.

Honestly, I've sat though many struggles and asked why. I've cried out to God in anguish. I've worried until I've wept. This blog is for me. This blog is probably also for you.

A few weeks ago some friends and I looked at the life of Joseph. Bad stuff happened to Joseph. His brother's got jealous, threw him in a hole sold him to a group of people headed to Egypt. Joseph got accused of attempted rape, ended up in jail and despite helping a man escape, he was forgotten and stayed in jail even longer. Talk about bad things happening. But through it all, Joseph did what I fail to do -- Joseph trusted God because he knew the promises of God. Joseph did all he could to honor God in spite of his situations. Look at Joseph's story. Look at how Joseph's story affected the stories of the people around him and how Joseph's story fit into God's story. What do bad things have to do with us? Maybe nothing... maybe everything. I've written more than I wanted to, but before I finish, I'd encourage you to watch the trailer for the movie "To Save a Life" and then support that movie in the Theaters. Each life affects another and while our Pain may run deeply, the way we handle the pain and the One we look to for guidance during the pain, will affect the way others live their lives. So may we give up the "everything" and search for the Only thing. And may we know that why doesn't matter, only trust in the Who matters. And may we continue to daily surrender.

On Marriage...

I've become deeply saddened lately by our cultural definition of marriage. I'm not talking about same-sex marriage or anything like that. That's a discussion for another day, for another person. I'm saddened by the finality of marriage in our culture. By our culture's standard (as seen in movies, books, media in general), marriage is the end for a man (or in some cases a woman). The man no longer gets to be the tiger on the prowl or insert "manly" picture here... Instead he is stuck with one woman for the rest of his life and one bed for the rest of his life. The sadness in this is that culture views this as a negative thing. It is almost admission of defeat for a man to be monogamous. So this view of marriage spurs men to get bored. It encourages them that perhaps something on the side isn't wrong. It tells them that they are a victim. And if this is culture's view of marriage, and if I'm indeed right, which I believe I am... then I want nothing to do with marriage.

For me, I want nothing to do with finality. I think part of that is my competitiveness. I want to pursue and not catch because it makes me want to pursue harder. I want to love and then learn that I need to love more. I want my "marriage" day to be a declaration of my pursuit, not a declaration of my defeat. I want my wife to feel at age 80 that I'm pursuing her harder than I did at age 30 or 40 or whatever age I make my ultimate declaration of pursuit. And I want my wife to run. I want her to know that she's wanted but that she doesn't have to settle for the best I can give her today. I want her to echo the woman in the Song of Solomon when she says, "I am my beloved's and his desire is toward me" (7:10).