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.

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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).

Half-life, don't you see I'm breaking down...

I read through a lot of my very old blogs tonight as I watched the movie, "To End All Wars". The common theme I continued to "preach" was the idea of surrender. I've written about it recently as well. I think the reason I wrote about it so often was that I was somehow trying to engage myself with the idea in some subtle way. It was as if my writing about it would actually change my own life and show people that it was possible. The last thing I've done over the last five years is to surrender. I've been living a half life. One part of my life is surrendered and one part of my life is completely held back. I love the words Duncan Sheik says about the half life:

"don't you see I'm breaking down
lately, something here don't feel right
this is just a half-life
is there really no escape?"

A life life with two opposing controls is like a man tied to two horses that both get swatted on the butt. Ultimately it will tear him apart. I think about the words my pastor spoke a while back: So many people want Jesus as Savior, but how many people actually want Jesus as Lord.

Giving up the "everything" for the only thing is what surrender is all about. Ultimately we have one choice and one choice only. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. Ultimately we have once choice and one choice only. So if we have that one choice, why don't we live as though we are in eternity? Why is it so difficult to live with that in focus?

I wish surrender was easy. I wish falling on my knees and offering all of me were things that came naturally. Alas it doesn't. We fall because we stumble on our own stupidity, not because we worship. We depend not because we know its the only way, but because we got caught in our own way. Its time for all of this to end. Its time for me. Its time for you. So let's give up everything that looks enticing. Let's give up the hope of something temporal and seek only the eternal. And maybe just maybe we'll be surprised by the blessings of having surrendered hearts.

Surrender.

Why doesn't matter - Who does.

On our family vacations to the beach while I was growing up, my parents always liked to stop at one particular Perkins restaurant for breakfast. It was a special treat for all of us, but more so for the lobby than for the food when it came to me. To a kid like me the lobby held a really neat device made solely for fun, nothing more. As I grew older I found that the toy was really a collector for a charity. I wanted to sit at the yellow funnel all day dropping all my parents coins into it and watching them spin until they hit the bottom and dropped out of sight. We would try spinning coins from both sides, determined to find out whose coin would make it first... Ultimately, every coin had the same destination.

Life happens. It plays out with an odd mixture of free will and determinism. It happens within boundaries. All of the events of the world, good, bad, indifferent end in the same manner. Like the coins on the funnel, they spin us around but ultimately end in the same narrow place. Life happens. It just does. Ultimately though, all events are spinning to the same narrow place. That narrow place is praise of God. We seek answers for why things happen, and I'm giving you the answer. The answer is for the praise of an almighty God who loves you but also loves himself. Oh and if you need more reason, go ahead and read the last few chapters of the book of Job.

I've lately been thinking a lot about I Thessalonians 5:16-18 which says: "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." There's a lot here... let's break it down and connect it back to our context. Joy is an amazing thing if you have it, but most people either don't have it now or quite possibly have never had it. Is that a stretch? I don't think it is. It is easy to be happy, but terribly difficult to be joyful. Being Joyful is something that is an expression both outward and inward of contentment, peace, happiness, etc. You cannot be joyful without the Spirit of Truth guiding you to contentment, peace, happiness, etc. Happiness is an outward expression of momentary positive emotional well being. It is entirely different from joy. In fact, Paul cautions the Galatians from seeking, as Peterson writes it in his paraphrase the message: "frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness" (Somewhere between Gal 5:21 and 5:23...) as they are evidence of a life not led by the SOT but by the flesh. Pray continually. Yikes. Good luck with that one if you are anyone other than Brother Lawrence... I guess where I've been spending the most time on this passage is in the next phrase... "give thanks in all circumstances". I think there is a reason that these three phrases are connected. Can you really be joyful if you aren't connected via prayer with God or can you be joyful if you are thankful for all circumstances? I am seeking to be thankful in all circumstances. All of them are a result of the grace of God in our lives. It is for His glory that we live and move and have our being. It doesn't matter what happens in our lives. It just doesn't. Give thanks in all circumstances for he has willed that you have the opportunity to experience joy and experience his blessings. All for Love. All for Love.

The coin is spinning again... circling as it drops down toward the basin at the bottom of the funnel. Life is spinning again... something has happened. It doesn't make sense. But as it spirals downward, we can see the destination in Christ's nail pierced hands. And that... that is what Joy is all about.

Surrender.