Christmas in September

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Jesus Follower

It’s barely September, and today, I’m thinking about Christmas.

Before I get accused of being one of those crazy people who can’t wait for Christmas music to start on the radio or for being someone who gets excited when I see Christmas decorations immediately following the “back to school” season, let me explain…

I think most people’s picture of Christmas is a time of peace, of family.  A time to decorate our homes, to indulge on sweets, give gifts, and to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  That’s certainly been my picture of Christmas for as long as I can remember.

But, there’s more to this story than a baby in a manger, shepherds watching over their flocks by night, and angels singing in the heavens.  Sure, those things are certainly part of the traditional Christmas story, but I just finished a book called Wild at Heart that has forced me to look at Christmas in a different way.

The Bible makes it clear that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  His creation was originally free from all sin, disease, and death.  Then, something went horribly wrong.  Adam and Eve disobeyed their Creator, which set off a horrible chain of events.  Evil had entered the world, and with it came such atrocities as murder, rape, greed, theft, lies, and all sorts of other creative miseries  Things got so bad at one point that God regretted creating humanity (Gen 6:6) and decided to flood the earth and start over again with Noah.

Yet again, however, it wasn’t long before things started to go poorly again.  Eventually, God called Abraham to start the (long) process of redeeming His creation.  Abraham’s descendants eventually were led out of Egypt to become the nation of Israel.  But, this wasn’t a smooth transition either – Israel’s history is full of violence, rebellion, idolatry, and immorality.  Their greatest King, David, is a murder and an adulterer.  Israel’s people ignored God’s prophets who pleaded for repentance time and again. Eventually, things got so bad that God was forced to let the nation of Israel be destroyed.

It can sometimes be very hard to believe that eating a “forbidden fruit” led to all of the evil in the world.  However, I think there is little doubt that something else beyond eating “forbidden fruit” took place when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.  Most theologians point to the fact that when God created Adam, he was given authority over the whole earth.  When Adam disobeyed God, all of the authority that was given to him was given to someone else.  That someone was the one who convinced Adam and Eve to disobey – Satan.

Jesus says in John 10:10 that Satan’s job description is to “steal and kill and destroy”, but also refers to him as the ruler of the earth (John 14:30). Since the fall of man, it’s evident that Satan has used the authority granted to him by Adam and Eve to systematically work at undoing all of God’s creation.

In other words, the world as we know it is enemy occupied territory.  It is most of Europe during World War II.  It is the Galactic Empire in Star Wars.  It is the machines who took over the earth and imprisoned humanity in a computer system in The Matrix.

So, when God the Father sent His Son to be born on earth, it was more than the birth of a child.  It was more than the fulfillment of prophecy.  It was even more than the establishment of a new covenant.  Fundamentally, Jesus being born was an act of war, the place in time where God began to take His creation back.

I doubt that you’ll ever see a Christmas card with a message celebrating an act of war on it (this definitely turns John Lennon’s “War is Over” Christmas song on its head, though!), but, think about it for a minute…

Christmas is truly where God began to usher in “the rebellion” – His Kingdom, a new picture for what the world should look like.  When Jesus was on earth he healed the sick, drove out demons, taught the people, and ultimately emerged victorious when Satan was allowed to do his worst.  Then, he empowered His disciples and all who heard the good news to go and do the same.  And, they are – even to this day.

The world is still at war – one doesn’t need to look much farther than the evening news for proof of that.  Yet, the Kingdom of God continues to forcefully advance against the kingdom of Satan through the efforts of Christian soldiers who take up God’s call to make earth as it is in heaven.  The Enemy has been defeated, and while he’s not going down without a fight, there is nothing that will be able to stop God from achieving His ultimate victory.

And, it all started with the birth of Jesus…a day when we think of “peace”, but truly, a day that sent a shiver of fear through the forces of evil who occupy this world.  And that is definitely worth celebrating, no matter what time of the year it is!

Posted in Kingdom of God, Spiritual Warfare | Leave a comment

Defining Faith

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Jesus Follower

Faith is one of those things that everyone seems to “get” unless you try and explain it to someone.  It is a belief?  Is it trust? Is it certainty? Is it deluding yourself?

I have heard some people describe faith as having a vision for things unseen, but hoped for.  Frankly, while I get the gist of what the author of this definition was getting at, this definition still has always bothered me.  Perhaps it’s because what I call faith really isn’t all that based on things unseen for me.

For example, as I alluded to in my last blog post, I believe that the things we can see and observe around us point to all powerful God who created the Universe and everything in it. I don’t believe this blindly; I took a hard look at the scientific evidence, and realized that it takes far more “faith” to believe that everything we see around us was a giant cosmic accident than it does to believe that there is a Creator.  The odds against everything we see happening by accident are staggeringly small; what I see reinforces my faith.

Today, I dropped my spouse off at the airport for a mission trip to Brazil where the mission is to work with children who are at risk for being victims of human trafficking (which is one of the worst evils that exist in this world today).  This is the first time anyone in our family has done a mission trip at all, let alone dealing with an evil so heinous, countries often refuse to acknowledge it as a problem for fear of how they will look on the world stage.

Add that to the fact that my spouse has only been on a plane 2 other times and has never been in a foreign country (besides Canada), let alone a developing one, well, suffice it to say that there is a lot one could be nervous about.

You’d never know it from the car ride down to the airport though. My spouse has been a picture of calm all week.  In fact, in thinking about it, I have seen nothing but a response in perfect “faith” since God’s call was heard loud and clear all those months ago.

And, God has been faithful.  He has provided all of the money that was needed to fund the trip.  He provided timing that worked out perfectly with everyone’s schedules.  He equipped my spouse with skills that are absolutely needed down there.  I am really quite in awe of all that’s gone on these past few months.

As I sit here and process all of this, I am once again struck by the notion that faith isn’t always something unseen. I have been fortunate to see it lived out in front of me for the past six months or so! Faith, to me, is better defined by actions instead of words.

I could not be prouder of the one I love serving God’s Kingdom in amazing ways, and I am humbled by being married someone who has a heart to leave our first world to go help those who cannot help themselves. I pray that God’s love transforms lives through this trip.

 

Posted in Faith, Hearing God, Kingdom of God, Serving | Leave a comment

You Don’t Need to Check Your Brain…

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Jesus Follower

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
    It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
    like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
    and makes its circuit to the other;
    nothing is deprived of its warmth.
(Psalm 19:1-6)

The ironic thing about starting this blog is that I ended up thinking I would start in a certain place as far as what to write, but ended up in quite another when I actually sat down to write something. Looking back, I am glad that I didn’t try and “force it” – I feel that the things that have been written so far were things that were on my heart at the time and that they were important to write about.

Now, however, I want to turn to a topic that I have a lot of passion for – creationism.  This is a topic that is unfortunately very “controversial” in the scientific community; many believe that you have to “check your brain at the door” to believe that the universe came to be through the actions of an all powerful Creator.  Christians who believe that God created everything are sneered at for their beliefs.  After all, there are scientific explanations for how the universe came to be; we are told we don’t need God to have a universe.

I admit that this is something I struggled with for a very long time.  I am a person that tends to look at the world through logic and reason, and often found myself at a crossroads between choosing “faith” or “science” to explain the creation of the universe.  I didn’t like being thought of as “stupid” for believing God created everything.

The verses from Psalms at the top of this blog say that God’s glory can be found in His creation.  Since science is the lens by which we study all that is known, I began to ask myself if science really pointed to God creating everything or towards natural explanations for the universe.  What I found was both surprising and inspiring.  Fundamentally, what I discovered was that, for me at least, that it actually takes more faith to believe in naturalistic explanations for the universe than it does to believe that it was created.  

If this premise seems far-fetched to you, just hang with me for a while.  It actually would be impossible to discuss everything out there in science that points to a Creator for the universe in one blog post, so my intention is to keep things simple for this blog post and just ask three fundamental sets of questions that will start to get you thinking.  Over time, I will start to fill in some of the gaps and provide more food for thought that should help you understand how I came to the conclusion I came to.

Ready?  Here goes:

Question #1: The field of astronomy tells us that the universe is expanding.  This tells us that there was a point in time when the universe was much, much smaller than it is today, and that there was actually a point in time where the universe didn’t exist at all.  Scientists call the point at which the universe came into being the “Big Bang”.

Now, here’s the problem.  Since the universe did not exist at one point (a point at which we say that “nothing” existed), we are left with the question of where “everything” (matter, scientific laws, etc.) came from.  So, the fundamental question is this: how does nothing, which by its very definition cannot produce anything, manage to produce everything?

Question #2: Imagine that the Curiosity rover that is on Mars was driving along and suddenly found a cave full of information.  And, not just a little bit of information, but books and books of it.  What would you say about how that information got there?  Would you say that it got there by accident or that the information self assembled?  I think just about everyone would say that “someone put it there”; as a matter of fact, you’d be laughed at if you suggested anything else!

The field of biology tells us that DNA stores information about life on earth in the same way that computers use binary language to store information.  The Earth contains an incredibly diverse array of life forms, each with its own characteristics.  The fundamental question is this – if information doesn’t create itself out of thin air, then how do we account for the information that is in all life?  Would accidental causes account for all of the different life forms we see on earth, or would we expect far fewer species?

Question #3: Even if we had viable explanations for where the information that “programs” all life on earth came from and how atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen (primarily) would have self assembled into the first cell through natural means (we don’t), the problem of consciousness needs to be addressed.  In other words, we are beings comprised of organic molecules that make up our physical bodies, but were do our thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc. come from?

For example, if I want to go on a walk, what about the laws of chemistry, physics, biology, psychology, etc. can explain this act of my will?  Scientists who have studied this are stumped – they can’t point to any MRI or any other medical test that can know where your “soul” is in your body.  The fundamental question then becomes this: how do the arrangements of atoms of various chemicals obtain the ability to generate what we call “consciousness” once they are arranged into a human body?

Think about these fundamental questions and read what some of the experts say.  See if some of the explanations sound more fantastic than the possibility that there is a Creator.  Consider whether or not there are limits to what science can tell us about the universe, and whether or not there might be a lot of truth in the Psalm at the top of this post after all…

Posted in Creationism, Science, Tough Questions | Leave a comment

Adding a Butterfly…

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Jesus Follower

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I have a friend who has been doing through a fairly dark time in her life. It’s the type of situation where you start to question everything – what you’re doing with your life, your relationships, who your friends are, and what you believe.

In times like this, it can be very hard to see God working in your life or have any sense that He loves you.  But He definitely wants you to know that He does.

God often works in ways that we don’t expect.  Sometimes we look for a clear sign in the sky that he’s there, but it is amazing to me how He uses people in His Kingdom to bring hope to His children (regardless of where they are on their journey).  It is often surprising to me how simple things like following a nudge or impression can bring hope, inspiration, and draw people closer together.

Over the weekend, my friend came home from the hospital after needing to have a surgical procedure done.  I decided to send her an arrangement of flowers from a group of us, and after browsing the website of a local florist, I landed on a bright yellow selection that looked like it would brighten her day (called “Heart of Gold”, ironically, which this person most definitely has).

Before I checked out , however, a number of “add-ons” came up, and one of them was an artificial monarch butterfly.  I had a subtle impression that it should be added to the arrangement, but I wasn’t sure why.  It’s not usually my style to purchase “extras” when buying flowers (they are expensive enough), but it wasn’t an expensive add-on, and it made me smile.  So, I added it and didn’t give it a second thought.

Today, she got the flowers, and here’s where things get interesting.  It turns out that while my friend was in the hospital, one morning around 4 AM, she went on Amazon.com and ordered two packets of milkweed seeds that she was going to plant along the river she lives on.  The reason?  To attract monarch butterflies.  It turns out that monarch butterflies only lay their eggs on milkweed, and their caterpillars only eat milkweed!  This plant is absolutely essential for their survival.

Here’s the picture, though – imagine a person alone in the dark after surgery.  She’s been through some rough times, and is in a lot of pain.  There’s worry (let’s face it, you’re not up at 4 AM because everything’s hunky dory). Maybe there are prayers asking whether or not things are going to be OK . In the midst of that, she decides to purchase seeds that will undoubtedly help the monarch butterfly just on a whim.

Meanwhile, there’s people trying to bless her and cheer up, and one of them gets the impression that a monarch butterfly should be part of the arrangement of flowers.  There’s no explanation for it, but the click is made and it shows up on the arrangement.

Some might attribute this to coincidence, but that’s hard for me to believe.  The number of times I have discussed butterflies with this friend is zero. I didn’t know she had ordered the milkweed seeds or that monarch butterflies were on her heart.  All I had was an impression to go on.

Ask yourself this key question, though: if you find inspiration in simply reading this story, how much more hope would a story like this bring you if it HAPPENED to you?

I am convinced that all of this was no accident, that God was there pulling the strings to bring about His purposes, to show His children how amazing He really is and how he cares for us. Sending flowers to my friend would have a blessing to her to be sure, but God took it up a notch.  He took a blessing and turned it into a miracle.

We shouldn’t be surprised by this.  After all, that’s His character.

People either forget or don’t believe God still speaks to people today, but He does, and when He does, it’s important that we listen even if it doesn’t make sense.  But, if your heart is in the right place and you get a warm feeling\impression about doing something you wouldn’t normally do, trust that’s from God and watch what happens.

I again find myself in awe of my Creator…all because of adding a butterfly.

Posted in God's Character, Hearing God, Kingdom of God | Leave a comment

The Justice Trap

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Jesus Follower

When most people think of justice, I think the general perception is positive.  After all, we have a “justice” system to make sure that criminals are punished, that people are treated fairly, and that society at large abides by a set of rules that prevent us from succumbing to the darkest places in our hearts.  We have “justices” of the peace who handle smaller court matters and perform marriages.  We hear things like “justice was served” in our media, and there’s even a comic about a team of heroes called the “Justice League”.  Justice is good, right?

Further, even the Bible addresses the issue of “justice” – “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”, right?  There’s your “justice” right there!

The problem with justice, however, is that it’s often based on own own biases and prejudices about what is or is not “fair”.  And, we forget that “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” was not actually prescribing a system of justice, but prescribing limits on how far justice could go (back in the days when this was written, people had a tendency to take justice way too far – for example, if someone stole a sheep, they could possibly face death!).

Sometimes, administering “justice” is easy – if my son takes something from his sister, he has to give it back.  If one them breaks someone else’s toy, they have to replace it.  If I make a mess, I have to clean it up.

We know, though, that life’s rarely that simple.  Take, for example, the criminal justice system.  If someone murders someone and are locked away in jail for the rest of their life because of it, does that all of a sudden make up for the loss of life?  What about circumstances where a person who commits murder is taken away from their children for life?  How “fair” is it that those kids do not get to grow up with their dad or mom?  At least one of the providers for the family is now gone and who now is responsible for supporting the ones who did nothing wrong?

That isn’t at all to say that evil shouldn’t be dealt with – it must, or the fabric of our whole society is at stake.  It’s just that a lot of people look at justice as an solution or an end, but this is where justice becomes a trap.

I personally know some really good people who have strong moral character and a strong sense of right and wrong.  The problem, however, is that they can sometimes obsess over times when they are wronged and demand that justice be done.  Seeking “justice” becomes an all-consuming mission, and talking about grace or forgiveness with them isn’t an option until justice is done.  Evil must be confronted, period and end of story!

When one paints a picture of justice that looks like that, it’s easy to see how justice could end up tearing a person to pieces.  Yet, this occurs to each one of us when we:

  • Refuse to forgive a friend who hurt us by saying or doing something something that was ill-considered.
  • Expect that those who act like fools will all of a sudden see the error of their ways and making amends for all of the people they’ve hurt.
  • See evil as a force that must be confronted, even if we have to “go at it alone”.
  • Obsess over the behavior of others.
  • Cry out at the injustice of an immoral person receiving any time of reward or promotion.
  • Stubbornly hold onto “moral” behaviors that are ruining our relationships and our lives.
  • Rail against the injustice of how we’re being treated.

To be honest, it is a bit frightening to me how easy it was to come up with this list, because I have let each and every one of those things happen to me over the years, and there’s no doubt that in each time, engaging in those behaviors left me empty, alone, angry, bitter, disillusioned, disheartened, paranoid, and ultimately, broken. God knows that obsessing over justice creates bondage in our hearts and minds, but luckily, He has a plan!

First, he tells us to leave the ultimate justice to Him, which completely sets us free from having to worry that justice will be done.  We have to have the patience and faith to know that God is going to take care of things, whether we see it or not, and whether  or not it happens in this life or the next.  We have to learn to “let it go”, and “love our neighbors as ourselves”, even if things are not perfect.

Second, God sent His Son to usher in and model what the Kingdom of God should look like. It is a Kingdom where we are free to exercise grace, a Kingdom where we can be defined by God’s justice, and a Kingdom where we can bring Heaven into any place where we see Hell.

This is why in Matthew 6:33, Jesus says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” – he is telling us not to worry about tomorrow or what’s going on around us. God will take care of it if we only let Him!  Meanwhile, we have a duty to make sure we’re defined by grace, forgiveness, and ultimately, love.  As Oswald Chambers says in his book My Utmost for His Highest, “Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to [God]”.

Let God take over – not only does He want to, but He sees a bigger picture anyway.  Set yourself free from the justice trap and live life to the full!

Posted in Grace, Justice, Kingdom of God | Leave a comment

Serving With a Joyful Heart

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Jesus Follower

Recently, a friend of mine told me he was pretty much burned out.  His schedule at work, his family life, plus his demands with the church were draining him of all the energy he had.  You could see it in his face and his demeanor – he was clearly fighting exhaustion and his own emotions every day.  Ultimately, he came to the logical conclusion that he needed to take a break from work and church so he could focus on his family.

While it’s pretty normal to take a vacation from work, he seemed to feel a little “guilty” about taking a break from serving at the church.  After all, isn’t “walking away” from our call to serve others “sinning”?  Is this turning our back on God?  Aren’t we supposed to experience joy when we serve others?

I think this is dangerous thinking on a number of levels, and exactly how Satan can turn a good thing like serving into something that undoes us.

A few years ago, I ended up in charge of a department and poured my entire heart and soul into helping people around me.  The people who worked for me had virtually unlimited access to me.  Folks in other departments could ask whatever they wanted of me and I would try and help them.  I was constantly monitoring our support queue to make sure that support issues were getting resolved accurately in a timely manner.  In short, I focused my whole life in making sure other people got they help they sought as quickly as possible no matter what.

Unfortunately, this “selflessness” became a curse that tore my life to pieces.

You see, in the process of trying to serve others I did a terrible job managing the needs of my family and friends.  I ended up physically and emotionally drained because the more effort I poured into serving others, the more miserable and exhausted I became.  I thought that serving others was the right thing to do and it’d bring me joy.  When it didn’t, I just “served harder” to see if that would do the trick.  When that didn’t work, I kept serving others because I thought I’d be betraying God’s will by not doing so.

You can probably see what a vicious cycle this is, though.  Sooner or later you’re either going to hate helping other people of you’re going to become completely burned out.  This is the antithesis of the life God wants for us.  Luckily, he has provided us with a better plan – His Kingdom breaking in and bringing Heaven in where the burden gets too heavy for us.  But, what is this supposed to look like?

Imagine for a second that you need to carry a 200 pound load up a mountain.  There are several ways you could go about this – put it all on your back, make several trips, try and hire someone, etc.  Unfortunately, though, the problem is that the whole load is on you.  This task is going to take a lot out of you no matter how you ultimately decide to solve the problem.

Now, imagine you have a friend who offers to carry half of the load for you.  All of a sudden, this task looks a lot easier.  You’ll be half as drained as you were before, and moreover, you know that you have a friend who’s willing to help you.  That’s a good feeling.  Your friend feels good because he can keep you from carrying an extremely heavy burden by yourself, perhaps freeing up hours or your time for something else.

What if, however, you could find five people to help you carry the load?  All of a sudden, the task becomes pretty easy.  The burden on you is 20% of the size it once was.  The burden on everyone else is negligible, yet the sum of what the five of you can do “easily” is a task that would be difficult for just one person to carry alone.  Perhaps even the five of you have a great conversation together getting the work done.

It seems to me that what I’ve described here is what serving in the Kingdom of God should look like.  In this scenario, those with the heaviest burdens have their load significantly lightened, and through the lightening of the load, everyone is enriched in the process.  This models enables service with a joyful heart all the time – no one gets burned out, but a lot gets accomplished without any one person exerting significant effort!  There is a continual outpouring of love, encouragement, and support throughout the process.  It’s much harder to get too run down in a scenario like this.

I have been fortunate to work with 4-5 “Kingdom of God” people over the past year or so, and I have noticed a significant reduction in my stress levels and a greater appreciation for the people around me.  I’ve had rough days, but there are people around me ready to help all the time.  And, I stand ready to help when someone else needs help.  It’s a great system – there is constant give and take, and that’s the key…there has to be balance between how much you’re giving and how much you’re taking.  Too much “give” burns you out, too much “take” builds resentment.

No one wants to get tired out by doing the right thing and helping, and God doesn’t want this either.  That’s why he gives us people to “do life with”.  That’s why we have a model for a better way.  Give it a try next time you’re feeling burned out – the results will encourage you beyond your wildest dreams!

Posted in God's Character, Kingdom of God, Serving | Leave a comment

Father’s Bet

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Jesus Follower

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” – John 14:12

A friend of mine recently made a $10 bet with this daughter that he could do 10 somersaults in a row and be able to walk in a straight line.  He lost, and the (humiliating) results were posted on Facebook that very day.

As “he was taking his medicine” from his friends and family at having lost the bet, he mentioned the fact that his daughter had shown her old man up by doing the 10 somersaults and getting up and walking in a straight line with no trouble at all.  This prompted me to make a comment to “never bet against your kids”.

The moment I sent my comment off, though, something hit me.  God doesn’t bet against His “kids” either.  In fact, Jesus tells us in the passage quoted at the top of this post that we’ll do even greater things than He did while he was here on earth.

Moreover, as I processed this truth a little more, I realized that not only does God not bet against us, but he stacks the deck in our favor by promising to be with us and empowering us with His Holy Spirit to do his will on earth.

Wow.

And what about the sheer audacity of my friend’s daughter to not only confidently declare that she could do what he could not, but to put $10 up that she could?  If that isn’t a good look at what our faith is supposed to look like, I don’t know what is!

How much more impactful would we be to those around us is we realized these simple truths?  What good could we do?  What things do we fear could be cast away because we’re confident that God’s working in and through us?  How much more would we believe in ourselves because of what HE believes about us? I’ll “bet” the results would be life changing…

Posted in Confidence, Faith, God's Character, Holy Spirit, Kingdom of God | Leave a comment

God of Defying Expectations

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Jesus Follower

“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.  ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'” – Isaiah 55:8-9

Around Thanksgiving time last year, my daughter’s Kindle broke.  Unfortunately, this was her second one.  However, she truly loves her Kindle and has it loaded with eBooks.  There was no way we’d be able to get away with not replacing it.

We maybe could have sent it in on a warranty repair, but that was iffy, and this was the second one that broke under her watch (neither time was her fault – they just wore out).  We considered getting her a newer Kindle in the hopes that perhaps the newer models would last longer, but they are a bit pricey and somewhat limited in functionality.

We ultimately decided to get her a tablet for Christmas.  They have way more features, seemed more durable, and with the Kindle app, would take care of her eBook needs.  It was also only slightly more expensive than a Kindle. Really, it was a perfect solution for her, especially since she’s getting older and she’s really hard to buy gifts for.

The problem was that the Kindle broke over a month before Christmas.  She was going to have to wait.  She asked us numerous times when we’d get her Kindle repaired and we kept putting her off because we had a better plan for her that needed time to come to fruition.  We knew she’d be delighted with the tablet when she got it, but things were going to be rough for a while…

When she got it on Christmas morning, she was absolutely thrilled.  Suddenly, everything that we’d said to her about her Kindle made sense.  She couldn’t see it at the time, but now she saw what we were planning for her.  Her request was honored in a way she didn’t expect, and in the process, she learned about how much her parents love her.  We as parents delighted in surprising our daughter and doing something unexpected.

I submit that my daughter’s Kindle “dilemma” looks a lot like how God works in our lives through prayer.

We’re generally conditioned to look at the world through a lens of actions and outcomes.  We work hard at our job, we expect a raise.  We eat right, we lose weight.  We break something, we get a replacement.

We also would prefer instant answers to our “needs” in life.  We are a society of instant gratification.  If we want something, we go get it.  Forget “saving up” for something – throw it on the credit card or borrow the money.  If the TV is broken, go get a new one. We don’t need to wait!

These two key things conspire against us in our prayer life.  We expect to have our prayers answered exactly the way we’re looking for, and we’re impatient with God while His plan unfolds.  Sometimes, our prayers even DO get answered and we miss it because “the answer” doesn’t look the way we expect it to.  Either way, we end up discouraged when we shouldn’t be.

In having this attitude, we miss out on major opportunities to see how amazing God really is and what He is really like.  I believe He delights in revealing Himself to us in unexpected ways and blessing us beyond our wildest dreams, just like we had planned to do for our daughter.  Ask yourself this question – wouldn’t you rather be surprised beyond your expectations and wait a little longer for something than to settle but be instantly gratified?

I think God hard-wired us to love a good surprise for a reason.  Surprises make us feel special.  They make us feel loved.  They draw us closer to the person(s) who planned the surprise.

It seems to me that the element of “surprise” works for God’s purposes too. Many times, He’s got a plan for us that will defy our greatest expectations if we will only let go and allow HIS plan to work for us.  This requires not only patience, but trust in His character that He is good, all the time.  And, as my daughter wasn’t shy about continuing to ask that her Kindle be fixed, we should continue to petition God for what we need.  He doesn’t mind being asked again and against any more than we minded being asked about the broken Kindle, and indeed, we are instructed by the Apostle Paul to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

These days, I am able to look at prayers that are not yet answered as opportunities to be more mindful and watchful for God at work.  And, when I have to wait, I know that God’s working it all out, and that His plan will look a whole lot better and a serve a higher purpose than mine ever could!

Posted in God's Character, Prayer | Leave a comment

Team Game

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Jesus Follower

Sometimes, it is incredibly discouraging being a parent.

Today, my son had a baseball game – probably his 6th of the year or so.  This is the 4th time he was on the bench for a significant portion of the game (the other times, the team didn’t have enough players to field a team, so he “had” to play and they filled in the rest of the roster with a few subs).

I get that he’s not the world’s best baseball player, but he is 9.  There is an age where you play the best players and try and win the game no matter what, but I am pretty sure that it’s not at age 9 when most kids are learning to not be scared of the harder ball and swing at everything that is within a 5 foot sphere of the plate.

Besides, I’ve watched the other kids, and you can’t tell me that most of them are head an shoulders above where he is – they aren’t.  I am discouraged because I don’t see the coaches helping the kids work on their skills or even encouraging them.  When my son is “on the bench”, no one talks to him – he is alone.  I’d love to make the argument that the kids are getting good skills in practice except that they don’t hold practices once the games start.

Not surprisingly, our enthusiasm as a family for the game of baseball is waning fast.

My son wants who know why he should show up if he’s not going to play and pretty much be ignored when he’s not in the game.  I as a parent want to know how he is supposed to improve himself if he doesn’t play, and why the other kids don’t have to sit once in a while so other kids can develop.

This isn’t to disparage his coach at all – I am sure he loves the game of baseball and he’s doing the best job he knows how to do.  I have a lot of respect for someone who would volunteer their time and try and work with a bunch of young kids – it is not easy.  However, I would absolutely love to see him have a little more respect for where other kids are skill-wise and work on bringing them up vs. putting them “on the bench”.

As easy as it would be to cast judgement on my son’s coach for this, the reality is that there is a little bit of “Coach” in all of us.  In processing how I feel about what’s been going on in a baseball sense, I realized that there are a lot of similarities to my son’s coach and what we do to other people on their spiritual journeys.

When it comes to Christianity, there is a tendency to glorify the “great players” – the ones who do mission trips, work with drug addicts, and just lead a life of love and prayer.  That’s great – the church needs those people, and I couldn’t be happier that there are people in God’s Kingdom like that.  Those are our “go-to” people, the ones always “in the game”…

However, what about the people who are taking their first steps as Christians, or even trying to give Christianity another shot?  Should we not be equally celebrating the people who volunteer to fold bulletins for the first time?  What about the person who steps forward and asks for prayer after being unsure about all this “God stuff”?  What about the person who isn’t sure God is even real, but something in their heart prompts them to give $5 to a homeless person?

Personally, I believe in a God who celebrates all of those things.  Yet, we tend to get caught up in the fact that people aren’t part of the same denomination we are or that their worship doesn’t look like ours.  We judge.  Still others act like if you’re not planning your next mission trip, you seriously need to be reconsidering your relationship with God.

When we think that way, or worse, say these things out loud, not surprisingly, people’s  enthusiasm for Christianity fades fast.

After all, why should they bother to show up for church if they are going to feel like an outsider when they do so?  Why should they feel like their contributions (no matter how “small”) don’t matter?  What good is “enthusiasm” when they’re never going to as “good at this” as others are, or that their spiritual growth has stalled?

Is this really how we get people to love God?  By “putting them on the bench”?

Luckily, we play for a “Coach” that wants everyone on His team to “play”.  Moreover, he equips each of us with a mind and talents to accomplish His will on earth.  He doesn’t care if you’re new to the Christian faith or have been to seminary.  He has a spot for you, and He encourages you to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.  All you have to do is show up!

And, everyone on the team – no matter how “skilled” – has a responsibility to uplift, encourage, and treat every person on the team as if they are the most important person on it.  When we do this, everyone is enriched and everyone grows.  We are free to exercise grace and are able to let love manifest itself more fully in our lives.  The goal isn’t winning; it’s helping everyone get better day by day.

How much more appealing would Christianity be if the team worked this way all the time?  What good could we do collectively?  Think about it…

Posted in Grace, Kingdom of God, Love | 1 Comment

Rich Rewards

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Jesus Follower

Things didn’t get off to a great start the other day.

I had to work a little later than normal so I could attend a meeting, which meant that the kids had to spend a little time “on their own” until I got home.  This usually means a reiteration of (unpopular) rules, eyes getting rolled, and a whole lot of uncertainty for me.  The kids are very head strong (which can be a good thing – they can both be models of perseverance and patience when they want to be) and will sometimes do their own thing when they think I am not looking.

I was particularly worried about my (younger) son who had expressed that he was going to do what he wanted regardless of instructions – not a great feeling for a parent.  I knew there would be a phone call when they got home so we could have a reiteration of expectations.

What would I say, though?  I found myself in a trap I think a lot of people find themselves in…thinking about what punishment would take place when the rules weren’t followed.  It was frighteningly easy to come up with all levels of ideas that would apply depending on theoretical infractions that hadn’t taken place yet.  It was then a little voice broke into my thoughts and said “stop”…

You see, I realized that I didn’t want to be thinking about punishments at all.  What I REALLY wanted to do was reward them for doing what I asked and being good.  And, I wanted to reward them in abundance – not “buy them a car” abundance, mind you, but to bless them beyond their expectations for sure.  It really upset me to be thinking about punishments when I wanted to be thinking about blessings.

It is here when my thoughts then turned turned to God.  I believe God wants to bless each and every one of us beyond our expectations, and I think it breaks HIS heart when we choose a life where this is impossible.

Sure, God could certainly rain infinite blessings down on us regardless of our actions (and, in truth, I think it’s a testament to His character that we can still find ourselves blessed even when we do things that might not warrant it), but that would violate His nature as a good God who is just.  No responsible person would say that it’s right to reward people who do the wrong things (and continue to choose them), regardless of one’s heart to bless and reward in a rich and loving way.

By the same token, God is not sitting on His throne waiting to pounce on us with well-planned levels of punishment when we screw up.  However, sometimes He has no choice but to let the consequences of our actions come full circle so we feel the full weight of our choices.  God’s not “inflicting punishment” on us in that case; we are (see Proverbs 1:31-32).  And, when we come to that point where our actions hit us right between the eyes and realize what we’ve done, He tells His people that they are not only forgiven, but that he’s going to bring good out of it too.  If that weren’t enough, He then gets back to the business of finding ways to give you a blessed life!  How awesome is that?

In the end, things turned out great that afternoon.  The kids did very well, and I am proud of them.  I was able to give them something they didn’t expect as a reward.  It felt great to do so, and I look forward to the next opportunity to bless them again.  I love that our Creator feels the same way about us!

Again, I find myself amazed at how the relationship between child and parent mirrors the relationship between us and God, and what a wondrous system He set up for his creation!

Posted in God's Character, Lessons from my kids | Leave a comment