Helping

It appears there is difficulty not just for some, but for all of us. It's one thing to be in need, but it is another to have a need that can not be remedied by a small gift. The fact is that people tire out, and do so quickly. It's not that they have little desire to help, it is that they do not know what to expect when they help. There is a great pay off in making things better, but there is little to keep people motivated when they can't make things better long term.

Imagine, you go to help feed the homeless. You are so moved by those who are gratefully served, and you feel so good, that you think that you will never stop. Fast-forward a week, the people are still grateful, but there is something missing, you don't feel as good as you did. By week four, you begin obligating your self to other tasks important or not, so that you will conveniently be unavailable. What started out as joy has ended up as guilt.

So what are the mechanics of going from the top of the world experience to not wanting to be a part of it? Week one, you see a need, you fill the need and you are very satisfied. Week two, you see that the help that you offered in week one didn't make a lasting change. Week three, you are convinced that you are making no difference at all. Now, while all of this seems like a natural progression; it is in fact, an egocentric progression. The problem is interpreting the world through the big “I.” You see, the first week, you think that everybody is getting the same amazing payoff that you did, but in subsequent weeks, reality takes the wind out of your sails. Look, if you give water to someone who is thirsty, or give food to someone who is hungry: you helped! Let that be enough. You see every week that you served, you helped. Now, the devil will convince you that you did nothing at all, if you let him; but, the fact remains that giving of yourself helps others.

The problem comes when we will only accept a certain outcome. He needed a hundred dollars, I gave him a hundred dollars and he lived happily every after. And if we are honest, that is the only outcome we are prepared to accept. The sad fact of the “American Dream” is that it teaches us to only value what we can buy and sell: that is not true. You can't tell me that there is no value in speaking to someone as a friend, when what they meet day in and day out is a world who treats them like an unwanted stray animal. You see, often times we have gifts that are so much more than money can buy, but we don't give them. Why? They make us wonder, what if were in their shoes? Yet, all the while we see ourselves as the ideal, the person who always helps. We picture the suffering Christ, and visualize ourselves binding his wounds and quenching His thirst. In reality, we see the suffering Christ every day, and we couldn't be more abhorrent of Him, because He is dressed as a homeless man.

For my mom

Sunday morning before last, I was heading to church, and received a phone call that my mother was being life-flighted to a hospital in Nashville. In one instance, everything changed. I dropped everything and went to the hospital. I wanted more time, more time with my mother. So many questions come in a situation like that, but the one that most concerned me: Have I been a good son to her?

The thing that continues to bother me, I'm still not sure how to answer that question. It's hard to understand how much you value someone, especially your mom, until you come face to face with the prospect of losing them. I'm not asking why this or why now, I'm asking what can I do with the time God has given me? I don't intend to leave that question unanswered. God helping me, I'm going to make the most of it.

My mom is doing better day by day, and I thank God for her progress. I also thank Him, that although I wasn't doing as well as I could as her son, I've been given a new opportunity to demonstrate to my mother what she means to me. I can't say that I am handling all of this with a great deal of grace; in fact, it is with the greatest of difficulty that I have set aside my self-reliance to then be able to rely on God. The good news is: the more that I rely on God, the more grace He gives me for the trials I have to face.

Please pray for my mom, I love her dearly.

Marked by kindness

There is a girl who is sweet and kind, when I think about her; it reminds me of how much I admire her kindness, and I realize that I don't know too many who admire that about me. I don't think of the world as being a kind or gentle place. So, it makes an impression on me, when I see someone who is particularly good at kindness. It makes me jealous, because I know that I have work to do. Not that I mind the work; my uncle taught me when I was a boy, "find a master, and steal everything you can from them," of course he was talking about tradesmen, but I have stolen it and now apply it to my faith.

When I think about the people who have made an impact on my life: I remember kindness. I remember my second grade teacher exuberantly telling me what a good job I had done on my handwriting exercise. Aside from the fact that no one would believe it, looking at my handwriting now; why does that stick out so vividly in my experience at school? She was kind to me. She saw a boy who needed encouragement, and she reached out to him.

You know, as time passes, the things that I possessed that had such sentimental value to me, mean less and less. If I have a prized collection now, it is the memories of those who were kind to me. Dr. George Crawford (one of the masters from whom I have stolen) always greeted me with a smile, a handshake and this phrase: "Good to see you, boy." What was so moving about it was that he meant it. I cannot speak as to what it meant to him, but I do know that it meant the world to me. My life has been forever marked by his kindness.

The Answer

When the answer finally comes, you realize that all of the struggle and all of the grief has brought you to this new place. A place different than any you have known thus far, you didn't think this way before, you couldn't have thought this way before. God is making us more like His Son, and that doesn't come easy. He is quite literally changing us, and to do that He must unearth the causes of self and implant the cause of others. That's not the way of natural man.

No other religion tells you that your life is for the benefit of others. In fact, they can not. They teach you to keep for self and give only when you have an abundance. That is why the teachings of Christ are so revolutionary! Who else teaches you to give all of it away as the path to success? Only Christ. What are the guaranties? Frankly, death. I'm sorry to break it to you, but you are going to die, and in the process, you will be used up for the benefit of others. But, hey, you were going to die anyway. Listen to me, this is the only way to truly live, and it is the model that Christ gave us to follow.

Loved ones, you can try to hide whatever you want from God, but you need to understand that He sees you hiding it. You can't keep a secret from the omniscient One. The Father will let you wrestle and struggle until you are finally ready to open up to Him, and when you do, you find the blessings of God. It's not a lightning strike followed by a influx of new understanding, but the day by day leading of the Almighty. Learning, loved ones, the process that takes us from basic math to calculus. The Lord is not distant, leaving us to figure it out by ourselves, but He is the One Who is there teaching us. More like Christ, more love for God, more love for others and more useful to the Master; this is the working out of our salvation.

God bless you all.

From Defeat to Victory Part IV

We keep God waiting, and keep His power at bay in our lives, all because we are too busy putting our plans in front of God, with out reference to what God wants. God is waiting to use all of us for His purpose, a purpose that Divine wisdom and omniscience has designed us for; yet all the while, we are telling God that His plan isn't the right plan for us. Listen, loved one, the victory comes when we get in line with God's plan and go to work on His terms. There is a palpable difference between doing something for God, and doing what God has told you to do. God is waiting to do the mightiest work with a simple servant.

Look, the higher you ratchet yourself up the importance scale, the less usable you are to God. He uses the least and the over looked. Think back in your Christian life, to the services where God has truly blessed you in a way that you have yet to forget. Was it because of someone who was a talented speaker or singer, or was it because someone who was neither was so moved by the love of God that they could not remain silent. Neither noble nor polished, but in the simplest language they testify to the greatness of God. And the power that is felt in the room is the Spirit of God that speaks with them, "Yes and Amen."

What did they say of the fishermen? They marveled at them, and they could tell that they had been with Jesus. Loved ones, that is the best that any of us can do. To be so marked by the love of the Father and Christ that it is evident to everyone. Listen to me, and get this if you get nothing else from what I have written, when we are submitted to God and we live by every word that comes from His mouth, we will be so marked by His love that it is undeniable to the world around us. That, dear ones, is victory.

From Defeat to Victory Part III

I assume that if you are reading this, you know that I have no faculty for sugar coating things. We never arrive, as Christians. We are, indeed, travelers; this world is not our home. And yet, it is the "American Dream" to make ourselves as comfortable here as possible, and put as much distance as possible between us and any form of trouble. Loved ones, wake up! That is not God's plan for any of us. The world over, our fellow travelers are being beaten, robbed and murdered for the testimony of Christ. Friendship with the world, James tells us, is hatred toward God. The older translations say "enmity with God" literally something that can never be reconciled to God, because enmity is the quality of being an enemy.

But that doesn't sound very victorious, you say. Oh, but this is exactly the path to victory, I say. It is the root from which every victory in the Christian life stems, Christ alive in us! It is only when we are stripped of everything, that we realize that God is all that really have. No person, no pet and certainly no possession can ever replace what we have with God. Loving things more than God, that is idolatry. There is nothing that can replace what we find in our relationship with God. When you are knocked flat to the ground, and you weep without a single thought for who sees you, and you cry to God, and you don't care who hears you; loved one, it is there that you meet with God on His terms. It is there that you get, maybe for the first time, that God is all that you have ever had. And when you get a hold of that fact and it gets a hold of you: you won't trade it for anything!

This is where Christianity begins in you. You are not only listening for God to speak, you can't wait for Him to speak to you. It is here, dear one, that you begin to understand that you live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. This, love ones, is victory, because the Father has won out over the whole world in your heart. The things that were so important to you just days ago, are now encumbrances that slow down your service to God. What becomes important to you is God's purpose and accomplishing something for His glory. This is where we finally stop jabbering about everything that we think we want, and ask the question: Father, what is it that you want?

More soon, loved ones.

From Defeat to Victory Part II

The Light of life, alive in you, loved ones, that is what I am after. Listen to me, a few fishermen and a lawyer, turned the world upside down because of Christ: and we are still talking about it today. I want nothing short of you changing the world! To quote Vince Lombardi, "I'm not remotely interested in just being good." I am sick of seeing people who are unaffected by the love of the Christ they claim to serve, and I want to see people who are so moved by the love of God, that they can't stop talking about it.

So, you see, dear ones, it is not that there are only gloomy days and trouble, but it is, that we are built up and edified by those difficult and trying days. God is working to give kindness to our eyes, tenderness to our voice and gentleness to our touch. The building blocks that make you someone people look to in times of trouble, come from the hand of God. Do you understand that it is when you are undeniably hurt and broken, that the power of God rests on you? Let that sink in for a minute. The power of Christ, Paul says, rests on the humbled and weak. What was Paul through the eyes of the world, but a wee small nerd; but through kingdom eyes, you would see a lion!

Shunning trials, is frankly, to remain a baby. It is the one who looks at a trial and says: do your worst, so that the power of Christ may rest on me; who matures and becomes useful to the Master. What can anyone do, including Satan, seeing that God is for us? Not one thing, that will not fulfill His Divine purpose. And, loved one, you can be sure that purpose is not only full of Divine wisdom, but perfect love. You see, in addition to God loving you perfectly; He is making you better. He is making you to be like His Son.

More soon, loved ones.

From Defeat to Victory

I know that over the past few months, we have covered some weighty topics. What can I say, sometimes life is just not fun. Sometimes it is just hard. Loved ones, I hope that you sense my heart in this: I don't write because I want to drag everybody through the dark valley; I write, because I know at any given moment any one of you may be going through the darkest of valleys. Sometimes there are dark days, and those days are so incredibly difficult with out a reassuring voice letting you know that in the worst of it: God is at work in your situation.

Listen, dear ones, it is because God is so faithful, that we can endure the worst of it; not because it's supposed to be rosy, but because it is undeniably awful, and it is supposed to be! There are trials that seem as if they will never end, not because God wants us to be miserable; but because He wants to see the best of us. Listen, if it could all be over whenever you wanted it to be: pray tell me, what would you learn from any trial? The pressure would hardly begin before we'd hit the proverbial panic button. It is in the storm and in the trial, loved ones, that God is working to build His purpose in to your heart. Not through some "bad-hair day" experience, but when God has you in the middle of a situation that indelibly puts His purpose in your heart; and that does not happen in the shallow end of the pool, but in the middle of the ocean.

Little by little over the wrestling, hurting and crying; God is giving you His plan: not in the rolling out of a blue-print, but by drawing it for you one line at a time. If there is one thing that I want you to get a hold of in it all, it is this: the hurt, the pain, indeed, the very worst of it, is evidence that God is working out His purpose in your life. It is not an absence of His love, dear soul, it is the very apex of His love, to let you endure something that levels you. Why? So, that He can make you more like His precious Son. Look at Elihu's words from the book of Job: Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life. Did you catch that? "That He may be lighted with the light of life," this is exactly what God is doing. Loved one, He has to sometimes break us, so that the light of life, Jesus Christ, may shine through.

More soon, loved ones.

The Parting of the Sea

One of the best places for a Christian to find himself, is up against it. To find and feel the edge of destruction, is good for the soul. No, it's not easy, and its not what most have to say that are hocking their books; but it is very true. Standing at the edge of the sea with the most powerful army in the known world bearing down on you, face to face with destruction; that is what it takes to make a believer. A place where all hope seems lost; what can you do?

Have you ever contemplated what kind of wind it takes to part a sea? It would take something akin to a tornado, but like no tornado we've ever seen. What kind of wind parts the waters in both directions? It took sustained winds (all night and into the next day) that were powerful enough to displace a sea and then dry the sea bed. Yet, there had to be a corridor that allowed 600,000 men (on foot), plus women, plus children and livestock, to pass through unharmed. But, loved ones, up to that point, they were face to face with their own destruction.

This wasn't a difficult situation, it was an impossible situation. Ask any military man; slaves up against an army of foot soldiers, archers, horsemen and chariots? Answer: slaves lose everyday of the week and twice on Sunday. They weren't up against a battle with an undecided outcome, the were up against being slaughtered. But, dear ones, a careful reading of Scripture will tell you that God led them there, to a place where there was no escape. Why? So, that not only Israel, but the whole world would know that He alone is God.

Loved ones, as I am writing this, I am fighting desperately, the urge to Americanize this with a "and they lived happily every after." In this day and time, we have Christians the world over, "of whom the world is not worthy." Because they have followed a ten step plan? No, because they give their lives for the cause of Christ! Day in day out, beaten, robbed and tortured; and with that they maintain the testimony of Christ: they trade all for Him. Let me just ask you, have you ever wondered whose human rights are being violated and how?

Chuck Swindoll asked a question in one of his sermons that has haunted me ever since, he said, "When's the last time that you took it on the chin, for the glory of God?" I can feel this turning into a series, but I must continue. Dear soul, it is for the glory of God that you are created. In that very purpose, you may be delivered in your trial or through it. I find my self going here so often, but one of the best examples of this is Corrie and Betsy ten Boom. Betsy was delivered in her trial, and Corrie was delivered through her trial.

Betsy was delivered through God's mercy, in calling her to Himself, but not before she put the idea in Corrie's heart to go every where and tell everyone that there is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still. You see, loved ones, you must have a theology that says God is glorified in calling to Himself one of His own children. In the same way that He is glorified through her sister telling the world that the very same God is in the deepest darkest pit that man can create. You see, dear ones, one sister died there in that pit, but her story was told to millions by an eye witness to God's glory. Think about it: how many people will Betsy meet in glory, who are there because their heart was touched, and they came to Christ because of her story? Loved ones, what I'm asking is are you willing to go to the sea, if God doesn't part it?

316

316, who would have thought that such a big deal would have been made about how many yards passing a quarterback had in a wild card play-off game? It seems that over the years there has always been a fan in the stands with a sign, at a big game, with "John 3:16" on it. One guy has one chance to get a short message to millions. It's a Bible verse. I do think that these guys are football fans, but they have the presence of mind to honor Christ in the midst of it.

So we come to Tim Tebow. In every since, it seems that he is the genuine article: a Christian. And not because he calls himself a Christian, but because those who aren't believers call him a Christian. He routinely wore Bible verse references on his eye black in college, but when he came to the pros, the NFL would not allow it. Why? I assume it's because the aren't making a dollar off of it, but I digress. So the reason it is suddenly so popular, is that he put it in the stats of last weeks game, by throwing for 316 yards: the modern day and football equivalent to Babe Ruth calling his shot, every at bat of the game, or it was a coincidence (like any one of the million coincidences that takes place in the lives of every Christian.)

So, all the speculation that comes with a win, the story of an underdog and whether or not the young Christian will win the day have the media from all corners boiling over to put their spin on the story; and of course, an occasional blogger. So here is my take on things: in a few hours whether Tebow and the Broncos win or lose, God will still be on His throne. What I like most about it is, I believe Tim knows that, and either way he will glorify God. So, for me, I hope he has the game of his life, but if he has the worst game of his life: he's no different than any servant of God. We all have wins and loses, but the Lord knows, that right now, I'd sure welcome a win. Bless you all.

Update: 1/31/12
In case you didn't see it, the game didn't go well for the Broncos, but that's the game I love. Tebow has drawn criticism from different directions, but the loss was a team effort. One sad commentary, is that Tim is drawing criticism from Christian circles, and I think I have put my finger on why. I don't know anyone who doesn't think that he is a fine Christian; but, I think what bothers Christians is that a young man taking a few seconds to acknowledge God in a triumphant moment, is viewed as quaint by the rest of the world, and in fact just highlights how godless our society is.