Whats Important?

I've been having fun lately. I have been expressing my opinions lately. I have been loud and clear...for a normally quiet person...very loud. I got an email from a man named John Shelby Spong. He is a leader in a large denomination of church folk, and carries the title of bishop. He got a letter from someone who stated that looking at the christmas story in the bible was no longer possible given their intellect. That as a "progressive christian" they could not reconcile what was in the bible with their intellect when it comes to the christmas story.
Bishop Spong responded with the answer that the bible cant be taken literally. That virgin births do not happen. That stars dont move across the sky slowly. That wise men do not follow stars to a manger. That angels do not appear to lowly shepherds to announce good tidings. That pregnant women do not ride on donkeys, and that there was no census by the romans. That God's son would be born in a manger is not to be taken literal. That no leader would have children two years and under killed to remove competition. He goes on to ridicule the story to such an extent that he questions the intellect and sanity of anyone who would believe such nonsense.
I guess im crazy, and dumb, because I believe God can make a star move slowly across the night sky to guide wise men to a manger where a virgin birth occurs. I believe angels can appear to shepherds to announce this occurrence. I believe the whole story. I believe in the integrity of the bible, and that God can do anything to achieve His purpose. I also believe people abandon the truth for a lie.
It saddens me because the power of the gospel is lost in this. Jesus said some amazing things would happen if we believe. If our bishops are reducing the gospel to a "cute story" that is only metaphor and illusion, written by mere men to try to get a positive attitude from the reader then I am in trouble. You see the good bishop goes on to say that people dont get raised from the dead. That demons dont exist, only mental illness. That sick people dont get healed, and captives are just disorders in a person that should be treated with medicine. Not only does he deny the truth of the gospel, but he denies the power of it also.
The bible says that people will think themselves to be wise and in doing so will become fools. It also says "the way of a fool seems right to him." I cannot deviate from God's word...in any fashion. I have already gone my "way" and it did not go well for me. I do not claim to understand all of the bible, but I choose to believe it, all of it; and not try to rationalize it away so that I can claim to be a man with the answer. In doing so, according to the good bishop, that makes me naive, and of no use to "the church".

Graduation

Im doing a funeral today. I have mixed feelings about it so as I blog this might not make alot of sense. Sometimes to work out these feelings I will write....sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesnt. My friend Marty is a new convert. He had a spiritual awakening about two months ago. God did a miracle in his life and got him out of a tough situation. We had prayed for God to intervene and God exceeded our expectations. Ever since then Marty has been attending church, reading his bible, and growing in the Lord. It really blesses my heart to see it.
Last week he called, frantic and upset. His mother had a stroke, and was on life support. The doctors called it a massive stroke and it appeared that she would not regain conciousness. They said if she did she would probably be in a vegetative state...alas all hope seemed to be gone. Marty asked me what to do.... i replied pray...pray hard and ask God to heal her. I had prayed for her heart about 6 months ago when she was having heart problems and she had been blessed by the Lord, so now it was time to pray some more.
Marty prayed, and he prayed, and he prayed. After three days his mom actually showed some slight improvement and was communicating with others by squeezing their hands. Then just as suddenly she lost all brain activity, slipped into a coma, and died the next day.
My heart hurts for Marty...I see the confusion in him. I see the disappointment, and the hurt, and I cant help but wonder what he is thinking. When God says no, and you dont expect it, and He says no in such a critical time.....sometimes its hard to swallow.
So today im going to talk about it. Im going to try and encourage, give hope, reiterate the importance of being ready for such a day....but im feeling very hollow about the whole thing. The truth is for us left behind its a very painful time, and sometimes its difficult grasping the God of all comfort.
100 years from now, none of this will matter. God's word will reign just as it does now, I will see it clearly then. There will be no more suffering, no more tears, no more pain. Marty will be with his mom...ill be with mine, and we will be with God. Jesus will explain things to me I didnt understand, ill probably see I suffered mentally because of my lack of understanding. The truth is Marty's mom graduated to heaven.....I can see her in her cap and gown, waving at me with her diploma in hand as she walks into the arms of the Father. Im happy for her....but for some reason im still sad inside....maybe im thinking more about myself then i should....peace.

Self Examination

This morning I am speaking on 2 corinthians 13:5. It states "Examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine. Test yourselves. If you cannot tell that Jesus Christ is among you, it means you have failed the test. New living translation.
Jesus among us...what does that look like? The bible states Jesus said He was the exact representation of the Father...The Father states He is God....God states He is love. This word love is where it gets confusing. Paul states clearly what love is in 1 cor 13:4-8.
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love is not jealous
Love is not boastful
Love is not proud
Love is not rude
Love does not demand its own way
Love is not irritable
Love keeps no record of wrongs
Love is never glad about injustice
Love rejoices when the truth wins out
Love never gives up
Love never loses faith
Love is always hopeful
Love endures through every circumstance
Love lasts forever
Its a formidable list to say the least. A list that makes me see just how far away I am from where I need to be. A list that almost overwhelms me when I compare it to the state my heart really is in. Last night as I was working on this lesson I had to go in my room, plop down face first on my bed and just cry out to God because I saw how short I was on love. As I looked at the list through tears in my eyes...suddenly that small voice in my head began to talk to me. It said "wait a minute....who is love?"
Me: "You are love"
Him: "Do you believe that?"
Me: "Yes"
Him: "Are you sure"
Me: "You say you are"
Him: "Do you believe that?"
Me: "Yes I do.'
Him: "Why are you crying then?"
Me: "This list overwhelms me! I cant do it!"
Him: "Do you want to know a secret?"
Me: (through sniffles and mildly curious) "Yeh"
Him: "Since I am love, replace the word "love" with "God".
Me: " Yeh"
Him " I love you"
Him "All better now?"
Me: "Yeh"

Re-inventing the wheel

I have noticed something new under the sun. It is a yearning for new truth and love within the circle of my christian friends. The characteristics of it are a remarkable tolerance for others, an acceptance of others in their beliefs and lifestyles, and a general feeling of cant we all just love one another and get along. In theory its a great attitude to encompass. My guess is the hope here is that once we have accepted all and love them, then one can sway the one who is loved to find the truth, which at this point is still up in the air. By that I mean what I am seeing has evolved past basic bible teaching to a higher learning.
Jesus gave us two commands...Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love is patient, kind,does not envy, does not boast,is not proud, is not rude,is not self seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil, rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails.
God also said in the last days men will be lovers of themselves...following different gospels, and forgetting His truths. I have attempted to use the gospel for truth in disagreements, but have been told in response that the gospel, while an interesting book, is flawed, and misinterpreted, and so I can not base my beliefs completely on it, as it is imperfect. The bible cannot be taken literally....so when it says certain people will not get into heaven, well it doesnt really mean that. When it tells us to snatch people from the fire....well how can we know for sure, and after all no one is going to tell us how to interpret scripture and in what way. We will do that for ourselves because that is what people who have evolved to a higher learning do... the old fashioned narrow minded cannot be trusted in this.
My biggest fear is people will go to hell. Because we wont confront in this new found love. We will stop calling sin sin (such a dirty word these days) and people who dont acknowledge Jesus as savoir will be ok with that because they are loved and tolerated right where they are at. Parents who spare the rod.....spoil the child, and the bible says they do so because they love themselves more than their child. While I am all for love...i still believe love is telling the truth, and I still believe truth is found in the bible....and that makes me old fashioned, out of touch, and archaic in my thinking......be honest now....for some of you it does.

facebook friends

My friends wife left him several months ago. He had it all, a wonderful home, and a great family and all those wonderful assets that one hopes to acquire in the marriage. It all came crashing down. He of course had "no idea" how such a thing could happen... "The bills were paid, there was always food in the house, she had everything she wanted...I just dont get it" was his reply.
About a week later I ran into my friends future ex-wife and I asked her "what happened?"..... I was stunned by her reply; "Facebook" she said with a disgusted look on her face.
I confess I did not understand or believe her at first, but as she wove a tale of farmville, zynga poker, mafia wars, and old friends from the past that were continually popping up....she said she lost her lover to facebook. Her husband had gone from 30 minutes a day at the start, to being on facebook 6-10 hours a day 7 days a week. He no longer had time for her or the kids. How he ate breakfast, lunch. dinner in front of the computer...she would roll over in the middle of the night and he would not be in bed..."He would be in facebook" she stated.
The end came she said when it was time to take the kids to soccor one weekend morning. She said her husband had been up all night on facebook, and when she tried to rouse him he stated he thought he had the flu and was going to stay home in bed. Halfway to the soccer field she realized she had forgotten the teams drinks that she was to bring that weekend, so she turned around and headed home to get them... and of course when she walked in the house, there was her husband drinking coffee and on facebook chatting it up with an old "female aqcuaintance while playing mafia wars". There were no flu symptoms anymore...and she said she just snapped.
She said he made a weak attempt to reconcile...but when she told him she was sick of facebook he quickly changed the subject and ended the conversation...and this told her she needed to move on. It was a sad conversation...
They both have good attorneys now...and things are slated for court...and Im sitting here looking at how my time on the computer has increased since facebook came along. Not alot, but subtly it has been increasing. My wife and I always watch wheel of fortune together.... but last night I was on facebook, and when she called me to tell me come watch it... I replied back, "In a minute honey" and got there 25 minutes later...
If theres any moral to this story its probably "Dont do drugs!" My friend is addicted to facebook, it has cost him alot, and he cant see it because hes still busy doing facebook 12-18 hours a day...but when I talk to him he says hes hardly on it anymore. The similarities of my friends life, and a drug addicted person in denial are remarkable.
I guess an irony in this whole story is his future ex-wife who now refuses to even talk to him. She has moved on with her life and even met a wonderful new man who she says loves her and is good to her kids...and where did she meet him.... you guessed it....facebook. peace

Feathers and gold dust

I have become somewhat of a poor attender to church lately. Being committed to a church that shut down has left me somewhat unattatched and disappointed. I went to church last night though, and it was great just to worship and be in His presence again. The message was great, the pastor of this church is an amazing individual whom I am truly inspired by. His view of God is very simplistic in nature. If I had to define it..."God is awesome and loves His kids, so much that He wants to be very involved in their lives". It keeps my focus on the right level, or shall I say it returns my focus to the right place.
It was the first time I have been back to church in a month. Apparently I have missed out on some things. I guess last week while in church a feather floated down from the ceiling. And he told of a persons legs being suddenly coated in gold dust. So coated in fact that when he touched that persons legs with his hands...his hand was coated in gold dust too.
I know...the feather could have been left by a bird who somehow flew in the building, and somehow it got stuck in the ceiling, and somehow the drummer dislodged it with sound waves while playing the drums...and the gold dust was a chemical reaction when the left over ivory soap never got completely rinsed off his legs, and came into contact with an unknown chemical that somehow came into contact with this person just as they were praying for someone else's healing.
Could it be that God was leaving little markers...almost like bread crumbs along the path saying your on the right track. My intellectual friends have already rationalized it away...but something inside me has been stirred. The child in me is getting giddy again. I keep sending this inner child to his room, scolding him for daring to believe in such nonsense, partially because my intellectual ascent has no room for such foolishness...because God has been absent so long, why would He show up now...and in such a preposterous way...come on man get real!
But this inner kid wont stay in his room...I can see him; eyes wide open and yelling "Gooooooooooo God!" Believing for the miraculous, expectantly looking for his Daddy to burst through the front door and make everything wonderful again. I dont want to be naive...I just want my Daddy.

Whats wrong with me?

One of my wonderful acquaintances asked me that. Being the simpleton that I am sometimes, I began to rattle off what I perceived the answer to that question to be. Us males are generally "fixers", and so we find in a question like that an opportunity to fix. What I did not perceive was the asker didnt want to know what was truly broken about them, and so my earnest attempt to make things better backfired into a small atomic reaction that to this day is still having fallout. But it got me thinking...Whats wrong with ME!
I have come to the conclusion that my mind is much more deceptive than I realized. It fools others at times, but it seems to fool me all the time. It hides motives, steers me from the truth, rationalizes perfectly good behavior into shameful actions I dare not speak of. It teaches me to hide, to lie, to embelish, and generally do things I shouldnt do...all under the guise of I need to do them to maintain the facade of what I think I should be doing to keep society happy.
Now heres the deal...when someone points out a fault with me... they must be right because why do I get so defensive and offended? You see deep down inside, I know im not right....which is why I try so hard to hide it from you! Oh wretched man that I am... what do I do to escape this mental prison. Because my fear is I am only aware of about 10% of whats wrong....this earthly mind is hiding 90% from me and has built large walls of self protection and rationalization as strong defenses to keep it that way.
So Im going to give up self protection for 40 days. Im going to exclude rationalization for the next 40 days. Im going to open up my ears to hear what is wrong about me, without building a mental attack to defend it.
If you read this...you would be doing me a kindness to help me with the defects of character I suffer from. I am asking others I know to share with me anything they can think that might make me a better person. I would consider it an act of love on ones part to be honest with me. I can only promise I will listen, and my only response to what is written or said will be "thank you...I will look at that". You see Im a person who needs help, far from being self sufficient, I need people. I probably suffer delusions about myself in this world several times a day. Think about it this way.... if you were walking around with something hanging out of your nose, and you didnt know it was there....wouldn't you want someone to tell you before you went through the whole day like that? I'm looking for someone to hand me a tissue, and give me the high sign. Peace......

So Long Whistling Bill

I lost a buddy this week. He and I had a different kind of relationship. I didnt meet him until he was overtaken by alzheimers disease. He never talked, just whistled and looked at me with bewildering confused eyes.
Whistling Bill had been quite successful in life. A successful businessman, family man, and very prominent in the community. He was a man of importance at one time, and from what I was told "a good man". I would often times find Bill walking the hallways, not knowing where he was, or where he was going, just walking and whistling as he went on his way. I would stop him and ask him how he was doing, but he would just look off in the distance with faded eyes as if I didnt exist in his world. This went one for over a year.
And then God gave me a gift. One day as I was sharing about God, I noticed Bill was looking at me. His eyes were following me. He wasn't whistling and there was an attention in his eyes I had never seen before. He was nodding and even smiling as I spoke, and for that moment in time I knew he heard me and understood what I was saying. When it came time to pray he even bowed his head to pray, and I even placed my hand on his head and asked God to heal him of that awful disease...fulling expecting God to do it. When I finished praying he looked at me with moist eyes and nodded...and in that look I saw something. I saw all the years he had lived, all the trials he had been through, all the pain he was living with now, and the acknowledgement that God was his hope. I know he and I had both been given a gift, if only for a few moments, it was a gift.
I went to talk to him a few minutes later. The clouded look had returned in his eyes...he didnt see me anymore and he just struggled to his feet and headed down the hallway...whistling as he went. Everytime I saw him after that day I would look to see if there was recognition in his eyes, but it never came again...and I found out he had passed away early this week.
So Bill, this post is for you...you are the first person I loved that never spoke a word to me, yet taught me so much. I applaud your courage, and your life, and my greatest joy is that I will see you again, and when I do.... we can talk. And when were done talking...maybe you could whistle a tune for old times sake. Good bye my dear friend.

Eyes to see

There seems to be a thing happening to many of my christian friends lately. I woke up this morning to a show about a lady who wrote a book. The name of the book was "my divorce from God". She was a lifelong believer who trusted God until Sept 11, 2001. Then the towers in New York came down, and with them came down her faith in God. "How could God let that happen?" was the question that began the road to her deserting her faith. She had started down the road of "losing heart" and had walked the road to its dead end. She had abandoned her faith for a lie, and I realized her faith was conditional. God was not allowed to step outside the box of her expectations, and when He had....she fired Him.
It was a wake up call for me. I have come across alot of "faith frustrated" friends lately and if im honest...I have felt that way too. "for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternel glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2cor 4:17-18. God is unseen, but that doesnt mean He isnt behind the scenes at work diligently bringing about His will and ultimately good in our life at the same time. But we see it with earthly eyes, and lose our heavenly vision when we make faithless judgements about what we see.
If God could not do this He wouldn't be God....all He asks is we believe long enough to finish the race....without letting anyone cut in on our faith. Peace...

Stripping off the excess

We live in a nice neighborhood. The other day as I was driving to work I saw a rather large crew working around an enormous eucalyptus tree. It was obviously overgrown and unkempt, and my fear was this work crew was going to cut it down. Being somewhat of an old unkempt type myself I stopped and asked what the crews intentions were with the tree. "Stripping off the excess" came the reply....sounded good to me so I went to work.
Driving home that evening I came around the corner and was almost blinded by that old unkempt tree. They had trimmed its brances, and then stripped all the old bark off of it, and underneath that old dirty bark was a gilmmering sheen pearl like tree in the fading sunset. I would never have guessed it was the same tree, but I knew where it lived.
And thats when God told me He was The Great Tree Stripper. How he trims off the branches, and strips off the excess, because He wants us to grow....He wants us to shine..... all for the glory of His Kingdom.
Im in a time in my life where I am being stripped it seems. My hope is that trees dont feel pain like we do, because this is a painful time. But it is necessary for God's plans for me and I believe it is working for good in all things. I hang on to what I believe because at the end of this stripping it may be all I have left. Peace.....

Thats not God!

Thats not God! Those words were spoken to me yesterday. I had made plans to go see a gentleman at our church who was a guest speaker. The person commenting went on to say the guest speaker was "of the devil". He also went on to say that while he had never been in one of "those meetings" he had been warned by another individual who had seen this guest speaker on a u tube video. I asked him if he had seen the utube video and what had happened and he replied "no, but I heard all about it".
This exchange got me thinking...God has been the author of some pretty bizarre incidents. I wonder what this person would have said if God had told him, "In the morning take thy only son Isaac and sacrifice him on the mountain." Maybe he would have thought..."thats not God!" Or maybe if God had told him to lay on his side naked for an extended period of time.... or watched a staff turned into a snake....when you look at it God has done some "out of the box things".
What is this "box" we seem to put God in. Could it be the arrogance of our finite minds saying we know what God will and wont do? That we know every facet, and plan of God's ways. We know Him so well that we know every dimension and reason why He does what He does. And anything that doesnt fit in that arena is counterfeit?
I must admit I was stretched last night...this speaker and I certainly do not use the same verbage when it comes to God. But we say the same things...God is great, God is everything, He is worthy to be praised, and He loves us more than we could know. Jesus is God's Son who died for us on the cross, He is the only way to the Father and His kingdom, and He is the answer for the world today.
I kept waiting for a devil to jump on me... it never happened and in the end of the meeting I watched as people got prayed for, some cried, some laughed and some even claimed healings to their body in the name of Jesus. I also noticed this morning that when I woke up I felt very refreshed, and to my surprise I slept almost 9 hours, which is 3-4 more than I usually sleep. Maybe my body just needed it, but my sleep was sweet. I do know I am going to be careful of judging who is of God and who is not.

Daddy, Do you love me?

I think those words rocked me worse than getting blindsided on the kickoff team when I played football. The question came out of the blue, completely unexpected, and from the lips of my daughter. She and I were riding in the car on the way home from ice cream after a trip to the doctor. The ice cream was her consolation for the 3 shots she had recieved in her little arms. I had held her as she got these shots she did not want, but were necessary for her to have as she was starting gradeschool in less than a week.
She had not been completely informed of why we were going to the dr, and that was by design. She had recieved shots before and it had become quite an ordeal. The mere sight of a needle sent her into great emotional distress and and she fought against this necessary evil with all her might. To say it was a difficult experience for all involved was an understatement.
The experience had made room in her mind for "the question". If I truly loved her why would I allow a complete stranger to jab needles in her arm, and hold her down, against her will while he committed such atrocities!
I seem to have come across this question alot lately with christians. The reasons vary, but somehow, in the state they are in this once unquestionable truth has been undermined by "lifes happenings'. I think questioning is a healthy trait, and actually helps to move us along in our belief patterns, but only to a point. I can question almost anything if I want to. I can question if the sky is blue, and completely rationalize it away given enough time and effort. But as I remove even the most basics of truth from my life.....is that a good thing. Imagine what would happen to a child if they decided to go through their life deciding their daddy doesnt love them. And here is the deal....dad can do anything and everything to try and show he loves his child, but the ultimate acceptance of that is up to the child, hence freewill. It must be difficult being a christian and not being sure hat God loves you, or answers prayer, or His plans for you are good, or all things work together for good to them that love Him , etc etc.
We have an adversary who loves us to question even the most basic of truths. Its like getting his foot in the doorway. "Did God really say........". And if we question His word, which He says is true, inspired by the Holy Spirit, in one area because what we see doesnt seem to match up with what He says.....where does it end? God tells us we are supposed to go on faith... not what we see. He tells us to believe what He has told us....and believe all of it, not just what is comfortable for us.
Ive noticed another thing....when the bible comes into question there seems to come a flurry of new books to be read. Many of the authors of these books have had "questions" too and in their "higher learning" they have come up with "new truths" that dispel God's truth. Articulate, well written lofty worded books that basically state the very foundations of who God is, His character and love for us is all called to question.
I dont need to tell you how much my daughters question hurt me. I thought with all she had seen and been with me that question would never have entered her mind. But life doesnt always happen the way we think it should, and things dont always go our way (often the results of our own choices), so why does that make God questionable? And is all questioning really a good thing?

Why do we go?

Why do we go to church? That was a fair question asked by my son who at the time had just achieved his sixth birthday. I rambled through the usual answers such as not forsaking the gathering of the brethren, to honor God, etc etc. None of these seemed to make sense to his understanding. We go to the restuarant to eat, we go to the clothing stores to buy pants, we go to the movies to watch movies, we go to the bank to get money. He was looking for something tangible in going to church. I explained to him how we get to know God, how we draw close to Him, how He gives us life abundantly. He looked at me with a curious look and replied How do you get to know God if He isnt there? Why cant we see Him? I did my best to appease his curious mind but I must confess, quoting scripture did not work, and in the end he was left somewhat frustrated...as was I.

So why do we go? Is it moral obligation? Does God feel better when He knows we are sitting in the pews being good little boys and girls at least one day out of the week. Does it make Him feel honored by us being there. Maybe so...I am not sure. I dont know how honored He can be watching someone show up out of due diligence. Nor how honoring it is to go so that your "fire insurance premiums" are paid up.

Do we go to see the mighty hand of God move upon his people? What does that look like? I have heard it expained as comfort, and peace. Dont get me wrong these are wonderful and necessary blessings, but does it seem that all God's blessings lately are internal and unseen? Not like watching one climb out of a wheel chair, or sight being restored to blind eyes after 20 years. A person with a swollen broken arm suddenly watch as the pain and the swelling go away. When I think of how many people are suffering physically with one ailment or another, and how much God loves His children, And the stripes Jesus took upon His back. When I think about the promises (And there are so many if we look) that God makes to us about His external manifestations and blessings.

When I look at the early church, I know why they went. Because God was there and it was obvious. To watch their friends who had been maimed all their lives suddenly jump and leap and shout the victory, no wonder they praised God with fervor. And then Jesus told us that "these things and greater things than these will you do. And Jesus put a big time qualifier on it all. If we "believe and do not doubt". Jesus also said "When I return, will I find faith anywhere on the earth?" The implication being true faith is going to be extremely rare.
Im not saying this is the core reason why we should go to church.... Im just wondering why this facet of the fruit seems to be missing from the tree. And what else might be missing along with it.