Victorious Conqueror

Persecuted Christians

2011-09-12T10:14:00.001-05:00

I've blogged before about the values-based buying that I think we should all embrace. It would mean buying and doing business preferentially with people who share our values. Moreover, after reading how God told the Israelites to make no treaties with people who didn't share their values ... I'm convinced the consequences of such laxness are sure and dire in the end.

So two of our country's biggest trading partners are India and China. I was stunned recently to read a report that Christians are attacked in India more frequenty than in any other country of the world! (Source: Voice of the Martyrs) Really. Still, we send our call centers and software development happily to India. Never mind that it's a Hindu nation where the vast majority of people don't recognize our God. They have to go on and actually physically attack those who serve the one true God.

Of course, then there's China. We've set them to manufacturing nearly everything we use - from computers to clothes and toys, plastics and steel, even food. And American companies are investing in China like there's no tomorrow. We see it as an enormous market potential to be tapped. But let's look at some key facts about China.

In China, a woman recently received a 15-year prison sentence for publishing a Christian magazine. The only Christian publications allowed are those of the state Protest Church (TSPM) and the state Catholic Church (CPCA).

In China, someone recently received a 3-year prison sentence for printing and selling Bibles. The Chinese government permits only one Bible printing company ... which doesn't produce enough Bibles and cannot distribute them in the rural areas where no state churches exist (and house churches aren't allowed).

There are about 50 nations in the world now that are openly hostile to Christianity and/or severely restrict its practice. Does anyone but me think it would be a good idea for us to "no make treaties" with such people?

Lord Reign in Me

2011-08-13T19:14:00.013-05:00

Did you ever have one of those days when you feel like you've been completely undone ... by Jesus? I tend to think of following Christ as this orderly kind of movement. I read my Bible every day and pray every day. But there's something about getting older in Christ that just seems to make the circumstances that I'm in not quite so relevant to my spiritual state. I had one of those days this past week, on Wednesday.

I've just started reading through the New Testament, and was in Matthew 14 and beyond. This is where Jesus learns that John the Baptist - who had baptized him - was beheaded. In itself it's a grizzly story. Herod had arrested John the Baptist and had him in prison. But on Herod's birthday, his wife's daughter danced for him and it so pleased him that he offered to give her anything she wanted. The little tart that she was, was coached by her mother and asked for John the Baptist's head on a platter! Having no spine, Herod was unable to decline such a request - so he granted her that wish.

When Jesus found out, He was naturally very saddened by this awful news. John's disciples went and got the headless body to bury it. Then they went to tell Jesus what had happened. Matthew 14:13 says that, "When Jesus heard what had happened, He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place." I can just imagine Jesus' sadness. Most likely, He needed to grieve and pour out His broken heart to His Father in prayer. But it was not to be.

Matthew 14:13-14 continues, "Hearing of this (Jesus withdrawing by boat to be alone), the crowds followed Him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick." Did you catch that? Jesus is going by boat to a place of quiet solitude to grieve and pray. He needed to be alone. But when He got there, He was again confronted with a crowd of people who wanted Him to deal with all of their pain and misery instead. And Jesus had compassion on them.

Now if you're familiar with this story, you know that the next thing that happened is that evening approached and there was no food for the crowd. The disciples wanted to send the crowds away so they could buy food in the villages. But Jesus said no. Instead He took the five loaves of bread and two fish, blessed them and fed 5,000 men, plus the women and children that accompanied them ... with 12 baskets of leftovers!

But again, Jesus needed to be alone. The death of John the Baptist still grieved Him. So Matthew 14:22-23 says that, "Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowd. After He dismissed them, Jesus went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray." Now I can just imagine what that looked like. As I said earlier, I've no doubt that Jesus probably wept with grief and poured His heart out to God in prayer. But again Jesus would be interrupted.

As the night wore on, Jesus was alone, but the boat with the disciples was in considerable trouble. They were far from land and the wind had blown up some pretty choppy waves. So Jesus went to them ... out in the middle of the water! This is the place where another miracle is recorded ... as Jesus walked on water. And of course it's the story where Peter gets out of the boat and walks on water too.

So here's the part that shook me this past Wednesday. I'm reading this account and I'm picturing Jesus. I can just imagine how I would feel if I had just heard that one of my dearest friends had been beheaded like that. I would be consumed with grief. So I was picturing Jesus ... trying to get away from the demanding crowds just so He could deal with His own grief. But no matter how hard Jesus tried to take care of Himself, the crowds demanded that He take care of them instead. And then there were those disciples He had to care for as well.

This is who Jesus is though. It is His character and nature. You see, sacrificing His life on the cross for us was not the first act of sacrifice that Jesus made. Throughout His entire life, we see stories like this, where Jesus was laying aside His own human needs to care for pitiful people like you and me. Even as I type this blog now, my eyes are getting watery, considering how such a great man, such a great God, could love such a man as me like this. And truly He does.

When I think about who I was before I gave my life to Christ, I realize how far I have come. Frankly raising someone from the dead wouldn't seem any more miraculous to me than where Jesus has brought me. He raised me from something that seemed worse than dead. And it's because of Jesus that I truly have hope. But I started this blog today telling you how I was undone this past Wednesday. It wasn't while I was reading this.

Later Wednesday morning, I had a meeting to attend and as I was driving to that meeting, I was listening to some of my favorite Christian music in the car. And there it was, one of my favorite songs. Lord, Reign in Me (by Benton Brown). If you don't know it, here are the words:

Lord Reign In Me
Over all the earth You reign on high
every mountain stream, every sunset sky
But my one request, Lord my only aim
Is that You reign in me again

(chorus)
Lord reign in me, reign in Your power
Over all my dreams, in my darkest hour
You are the Lord of all I am
So won't You reign in me again?

Over every though, over every word
may my life reflect the beauty of my Lord
You mean more to me than any earthly thing
So won't You reign in me again?

(chorus)

So picture me driving down the road in heavy traffic, singing this song at the top of my lungs. And then it happened. The mental imagery that I'd been through that morning with Jesus in Matthew 14, combined with my love for Him and my desire to honor and glorify Him with my life. And the tears started to well up in my eyes. Then they started to roll down my cheeks ... just as I arrived at my meeting place. I had to pull the car over and just sit there, singing this song from the depths of my heart. He had done it again. Through Jesus, and because of Jesus, I was completely undone.

If you're reading this blog, my prayer is that you too can be completely undone by none other than Jesus Himself. I have to tell you, there's no joy on earth that even comes close to that moment when I am in Him ... and He is in me ... and we both know it.

Over all my dreams and in my darkest hour - Lord reign in me!

Parable of Soils

2011-08-10T03:00:00.061-05:00

This past weekend, Texas governor Rick Perry hosted a national prayer & fasting conference in Houston. News reports were that thousands came from all over the country. Some were there to protest - because they think that government and religion shouldn't mix. Others refused to attend because they don't believe Gov. Perry is sincere about his faith. If nothing else, it made for some drama in national political and religious circles.

I must confess that I'm one who fell into the camp of questioning Rick Perry's faith. I mean, he's been our governor (I live in Texas) for years now. In fact, he's the longest serving governor in our nation's history! But I've never known much about his faith. He's never played the Christianity card before. And when he releases his finances, we see that his charitable giving falls well below that of the average American ... and certainly excludes any obedience to the Biblical requirement for tithing. Is Mr. Perry a Christian? Is he a God-fearing man of prayer? I guess we don't really know.

In all honesty, I think Rick Perry is a good representation of a lot of so-called Christians in America. There are a shocking number of people who will gladly tell you that they "believe in God." I long ago stopped being impressed by that --- when I found out that the demons believe in God too! All kidding aside, I've learned that in order to be a true Christian, one must go considerably further than just believing in God. And I find myself puzzled ... wondering why that seems to be such a mystery for so many people.

Jesus minced no words when it came to dealing with hypocrisy. He looked at religious leaders and called them out for their lack of sincerity. In trying to understand how extremely religious people could actually get it so wrong, I've found it's helpful to look at Jesus' parable of the soils (Matthew 13:1-23). Jesus provided this parable and then later explained it to His disciples. But before He started that explanation, He said something that all of us should be aware of.

In Matthew 13:11-12, Jesus said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." So what was Jesus saying here?

He was saying that the understanding of Biblical, spiritual matters is a gift. It's a privilege that we dare not squander. Those who acquire spiritual understanding and make good use of it will get more. But those who don't will find that the wisdom and knowledge that they have acquired will be taken away from them because they squander it. Really!

So there are four (4) different things that happen when the Holy Spirit reveals Biblical truth, heavenly secrets and the will of God to us:

1. Some hear, but don't understand. And the devil snatches away "what was sown in his heart."
2. Some hear and understand, but never go deep. So in adversity, their faith fails them.
3. Some hear and could understand - if they weren't so focused on worldly matters. So their faith is useless.
4. Some hear and understand, and they obey. Their faith is fruitful and strong.

There are many places in the Bible where a certain type of statement is made. Generally it goes something like this: "Let those who have ears, hear. And let those who have eyes, see." Just because you read something, see something, or hear something --- does NOT mean that you understand it. The fact that you have understanding, knowledge or wisdom does not mean that you'll take it to heart and act on it.

So here's the thing. Wisdom and understanding are gifts from our heavenly Father. They're a privilege. And with them come sobering responsibilities. It really boils down to this what you know and what you're doing with what you know!

Dealing With Doubt

2011-08-07T20:03:00.000-05:00

We can doubt without living a doubting way of life. Doubt encourages rethinking. It's purpose is to more to sharpen the mind than to change it. Doubt can be used to pose the question(s), get answers, and even to push for a decision. But doubt was never meant to be a permanent condition.

The thing about doubt is that it must be expressed in order for it to be addressed. Silent doubts rarely - if ever - get answered or resolved. The just fester and nurture clouds of fear, distrust, and so on. In fact, lingering doubt, when not addressed, has an incredible power to kill vision, choke off passion, and suffocate energy. Moreover, the greater the doubt, and the longer it's left unaddressed - the more likely it is to cause lasting damage.

We all know the story of "doubting Thomas," as told in John 20:19-31. It's the term given to the disciple who questioned the resurrected Jesus. He wasn't sure it was Jesus and openly expressed his doubt. Jesus encouraged him to touch His tortured body. Jesus let Thomas feel the hole from the spikes that had nailed Him to the cross. He had Thomas place his hands on Jesus side where He'd been pierced with the sword to make sure that He was actually dead on that cross. Most preachers like to take us to that particular example as an indication that God welcomes our doubts.

But there is a great danger in the character of doubt. It is the risk that doubt will become unbelief - which is a great sin. Unbelief looks at the truth and doesn't question it. Rather unbelief rejects the truth. There is a big difference. And the risk is inherent in every human being who is too lazy to address their doubts.

Consider, for example, what might have been the outcome if our friend Thomas (in above paragraph) had not expressed his doubts to Jesus. He would have not been given the opportunity to actually touch Jesus' tortured body and feel for himself the scars it had suffered. More than likely, he would have gone on to not believe. And what would he have not believed? That Jesus was actually risen from the dead! And most theologians point to Jesus' resurrection from the dead as the greatest proof that Jesus is who He said He is ... God.

The Bible has much to say about unbelief, and I'll address that another day. But we can be clear today on two things. First, not believing God's truths is definitely a sin. It matters not that the unbelief lacks evidence or experience (proof) to convince it otherwise. Those who have access to God's truth and fail to believe it are guilty of sin. This is explained quite simply in John 3:18, 5:38. (But there are many other Scripture references in both the Old and New Testaments that define unbelief as sin.)

The second thing we can be clear on is the fact that un-addressed doubts are the fastest road to unbelief. So we can take our doubts and honor God with them ... but expressing them and allowing the evidence of truth to overcome them. Or we can be lazy with our doubts, hiding them in the dark corners of our minds ... where the evidence of truth never goes.

Said differently, it is not a sin to have doubts. But not expressing those doubts or confronting them is most likely to allow them to mature into unbelief. And that, my friends is the sin.

So, what doubts do you have and what are you doing with your doubts these days?

Modern Problems

2011-08-02T17:54:00.000-05:00

I blogged recently about the dilemma that I increasingly find myself in. I get up in the morning, read my Bible and then read my newspaper. The dilemma arises from the fact that I'm reading the same stories in both places! Seriously, I've just finished reading the Old Testament all the way through. And I see problems in their world that were caused by the sins of the Israelites.

If you're even remotely religious or remember anything about the story of the Israelites in the Old Testament, you know that they were God's chosen people. But they were a sinful, rebellious people and God punished them. They were conquered and exiled in foreign lands. The various books of the Old Testament tell their story in intricate detail. One book, which is often favored by modern spiritual leaders, is the book of Nehemiah. Now he was a spirited leader who convinced the king to let him go back to Jerusalem and help rally the people to rebuild the city walls. It's a story of leadership. And it's a story of revival.

Throughout the Old Testament, we see a familiar cycle. The people would be suffering in misery, but mostly because they had turned from God and were behaving sinfully. God would send someone to lead them to repentance and renewal. When they turned back to God and obeyed Him, He would bless them and all would be well. Until they fell back into their sinful patterns and disregarded God and His will for them. Then it would start all over again.

The last book of the Old Testament is the book of Malachi. Malachi was the last of the great prophets (before Jesus was born) and he was sent to once again call the people to repentance. Malachi preached to a nation of religious people - who knew God but had turned away. They were a nation of what we would today call backsliders.

When Malachi was called to preach to the Israelites things were pretty bad. Even the spiritual leaders (the priests and other Levites) were backsliders. Even they had fallen into old, sinful patterns of behavior. As a result of this backslidden spiritual state of the nation (of Israel), they were suffering the consequences of these sinful patterns of behavior, of this turning from God and of this outright disobedience toward God and His will for them.

What kind of consequences are we talking about here? Well, for one thing, they had a severe case of economic depression. The economy was in the tank. GDP wasn't growing. In fact, it was contracting. People were out of work. People had no money. Inflation was frustrating attempts at economic recovery. There were severe cases of crop failure - mostly caused by one of the worst drought the nation had seen. There had been attacks by foreign marauders ... which today we would refer to as terrorist attacks.

Family life had dissolved. Divorce was rampant. Even many of the marriages that hadn't ended in divorce were dysfunctional. And the spiritual lives of the people were cold and empty. There was no joy. There was no hope. Nobody was spending time reading God's word (what we call today the Bible). Nobody was spending time in prayer or worship of the one true God. And nobody was even trying to familiarize themselves with God's revealed will, must less try to follow it.

Sound familiar? Open today's newspaper. See that the United States of America is suffering from precisely the same maladies! We've got economic depression. We've got debt like the world has never seen. We've got dysfunctional and inept government, run by corrupt and incompetent leaders. Much of the U.S. is suffering from record drought. And other parts of the nation are suffering from record flooding. Divorce has been rampant for decades - to say nothing about adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and other family and sexual dysfunctions. Of course we've been fighting terrorists for years now - in wars that we're not winning.

Now the cause of the problem for the Israelites as Malachi was called (by God) to confront them was their lack of relationship with God, lack of focus on God and lack of obedience to God. So we sit here in 2011 with precisely the same exact conditions. What do you suppose the odds are that at least some of our current conditions could also be consequences of the very same behaviors?

Or let me put it another way. Do you suppose the U.S.A. might recover and prevail if our government and spiritual leaders were to lead us as a nation to repentance, right relationships with God and obedience to God?

God's Punishment

2011-07-21T08:21:00.001-05:00

I suppose there are (at least) two ways to look at just about everything. That is most definitely true when it comes to looking at God, His nature, and His character. You'll often hear people say things like, "I don't think a loving God would ever do that!" They have in their mind what defines a loving God and they aren't willing to consider anything outside of that range of thinking. And of course, they're sincerely convinced that their particular point of view is the most accurate point of view.

But if there are more than two ways to look at just about anything, how do you know which one of them is truly accurate? Isn't that the source of conflict and perhaps even misunderstanding? We base our beliefs about something on a set of facts, circumstances or even perceptions ... which in and of themselves may or may not be true. Such is the case with God. (I'm certain of it.)

When you read through the books of the Old Testament (which is actually much longer than the New Testament) you get a consistent image of God. His nature and His character are revealed in great detail. Mainly we see a loving, forgiving God who seeks after His own people and continually forgives and restores them when they mess up their lives. At the same time, the Old Testament reveals a God whose anger over sin is sobering. He must punish sin. He has no choice in the matter.

I am the first to admit that I get uncomfortable when the religious zealots stand up and proclaim this or that about God. They look like lunatics when, for example, they say that the soldiers dying in Iraq or Afghanistan wars are God's punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality. Honestly, they look like crazy people! Or to hear a televangelist explain that the earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan which created a nuclear crisis are all due to that country's sinful ways of living. It seems pretty far-fetched, pretty unloving and maybe even a little arrogant to see someone making such proclamations.

But here's the thing. I read the Old Testament and I realize that things like droughts, earthquakes, floods, tsunami's, and even wars can be God's punishment for sin. Or at least they used to be. Has that changed? Is God no longer interested in punishing sin? Many people would like to think so. I know there are many Christians today who believe that God is not upset or angry whatsoever. They believe that because Jesus died on the cross ... God is no longer bothered by the world's sinful ways. (And that's certainly one legitimate way of looking at it.)

But me? I'm not so sure. When I read my Bible, one thing seems very, very clear to me. God is unchanging. His nature and His character never, ever change. He is unchanging and that is one of His greatest attributes. It means we can always count on God to be consistent. And I've found nothing that says God is unchanging --- except for when Jesus came along.

I've long believed that God is in control ... of everything. So if something good happens I count it as a blessing from God. And if something bad happens, I assume it's for a reason. At the very least, God had the power to stop it ... and He didn't. Because of what I know of God's nature and character, I assume that there must be a (good) reason why He didn't stop the bad from happening.

But more than that, I cautiously believe that bad things could be sent to us by God. Why would I believe something like that? Again, the history of God's anger over sin and punishment to bring repentance are extolled in great detail throughout the books of the Old Testament. But I think we can be even more specific. In the Old Testament book of Amos 3:6, it says, "...When disaster comes to a city, has the Lord not caused it?"

Think about that for a moment. Has the Lord not caused the tsunami, the earthquake, the tornado, the drought and so forth? Our insurance companies refer to such things as "acts of God." Are they? Are they really deliberate acts of God? And if they are --- what is their purpose? Why would a loving, forgiving God do such things? It's here that we do get a plausible answer ... from the Old Testament.

Throughout the Old Testament times, God sent war, disease, famine, drought, floods, earthquakes, windstorms, insect plagues and many other calamities to punish the people of Israel for their sin. He further used these calamities to help them experience the natural consequences of their sinful ways and motivate them to return to God with repentant hearts.

I was visiting with a friend last night and we got to discussing this dilemma. I told him the troubling thing for me occurs every morning. You see, when I rise early in the morning, the very first thing I do is read my Bible for at least a few chapters. Then I set that aside and I read the morning newspaper. The troubling thing is that I'm seeing the same stories in both readings! The calamities I'm reading about in my Bible are the same calamities and "acts of God" that I'm reading about in my newspaper. How can anyone expect me not to take God with me from one reading to the other?

Like I said in the beginning, I really try hard not to act like some sort of religious zealot or raging lunatic. But the fact of the matter is I'm having a harder and harder time overlooking the parallels that I see between Biblical times and modern times. And if those so-called "acts of God" had a purpose back then, can we really go on thinking that they have no similar purpose now? Could they really just be happening for no reason at all? I don't think so.

There are certainly at least two ways of looking at everything. But my friends, isn't it time that we started trying to figure out the most truthful and accurate way to look at anything?

Advice Columns

2011-07-14T08:59:00.004-05:00

Call me old fashioned. I've been doing it for years. I'm talking about reading advice columns in the newspapers. Ann Landers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ask_Ann_Landers) and Dear Abby (http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/) are the most traditional ones. But there's one that's popped up in recent years called Ask Carolyn (http://www.washingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/ABqClkQ_moreresults.html), and there's another one showing up in Reader's Digest (http://www.rd.com/) these days. It's called Ask Laskas (http://www.rd.com/family/ask-laskas/).

Some of these columns are written by people who are known, others are simply "pen names." Either way, the concept is that readers send in their quandaries and dilemmas and the these advice columnists tell them how to handle it. They give advice. Why is it that I find these columns so interesting? I guess because I find life and people so interesting. In addition, I've done a fair bit of self-examination in my day, trying to figure out my own quandaries and dilemmas in life.

I have to say, that Carolyn Hax is the columnist I tend to agree with the most. She isn't particularly religious and doesn't exhibit any type of bias or specific world view. Most of her readers tend to write about relationships (on her blog) and her responses quite often display an incredible ability to dissect the relationship issue and expose the truth of the situation. Moreover, she's very direct and can even be confrontational with her readers when she thinks they need a wake-up call. (I'm particularly fond of that approach!)

But there are other times when I read these advice columnists and want to scream. Dear Abby and Ann Landers have both printed some real clunkers in my opinion. In fact, I can confess to having written to both of them at one time or another to take them to task for the crappy advice that they dispensed. As you might imagine though, such letters were never acknowledged, and I'm not aware that they ever printed a retraction or even offered to add my brilliant perspective to what they'd already printed. (So I don't plan to spend much time trying to hold them accountable in the future!)

The thing is, the more I read these columns, the more convinced I am that I could be an especially good, popular and effective advice columnist. With all humility, let me just say that I am more in touch with reality than some of these so-called advice columnists are. Really, I am!

Let's look at one example that I read this week. A woman wrote in about a trip she is planning to take with her fiance. He's from France and is taking her home to meet the relatives. However, he's a tall man and is not comfortable in coach class, so he's purchased a business class ticket for himself and a coach class ticket for his fiance. The woman is irked about this and finds it so disturbing that she doesn't even want to go at all. She implored him to suck it up and sit with her in coach, but he refused. So she wrote to ask for advice.

The advice she got? Suck it up and realize that he probably would be very miserable in those cramped, coach seats. So pay the difference to upgrade yourself and sit in business class with him. Gosh, I thought that was awful advice! Quite frankly, the man should have planned to put both of them in business class if he's not comfortable in coach. That he didn't even think of that or consider it would be a huge red flag for the future of this relationship. I mean, what woman wants to be married to a man who sees life through a series of double standards ... where his personal comfort is accommodated first --- and then everyone else gets what's practical and most fiscally responsible?

So what advice should have been given? This fiance should simply provide a mandate that she will not travel alone to meet his family. He can either sit with her in coach or seat her with him in business class. But if they are not seated together, she is not going. And if conditions exist that result in her not going, then she must re-evaluate the whole future of this relationship. Put simply, the lunkhead should get a clue!

So where are the syndicates, ready to set me up as an advice columnist? It's high time I be positioned to rescue societies from all of its challenging quandaries and dilemmas. Don't you agree?

Worship's Basics

2011-07-08T08:35:00.000-05:00

There's a song that's been popular among contemporary worship leaders for several years now. It's called "Heart of Worship." (http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/m/mattredman20504/theheartofworship929505.html) It was written by a guy called Matt Redman. (http://www.mattredman.com/) You might not recognize that name, but if you like contemporary Christian praise and worship music, I bet you're a fan of his work.

Anyway, in this song, "Heart of Worship", the lyrics make a profound statement regarding worship: "I'm sorry for the thing I've made it ..." It's a popular song and I've seen it sung in many different churches many, many times. But this statement has always seemed a bit odd to me. I mean, what is 'the thing I've made it?' Did we do something wrong with worship? And if we did, how did that happen? Would it have been purely out of ignorance? Or are other sinful motives involved --- like maybe selfishness, laziness, or even pride?

Maybe I'm a bit of a fanatic, but like other things in my spiritual life, I've wanted to understand worship as much as anything else. I mean, let's face it, worship can take on almost magical qualities at times --- as it seems to transform us and carry us away to a sort of Utopian existence. As I've sought to understand this phenomenon, quite honestly, I've had some serious learning to do. I love worship music, but I find that the more I grow spiritually, the easier it is to see that I have made it (worship) into something I'm sorry for.

You see, I have often thought it was about me. The worship wasn't so much in praise and adoration of God as it was ministry to myself. Worship made me feel better. You may wonder what's wrong with that. And there may indeed be nothing wrong with that. But you and I were made to worship (lyrics from a Chris Tomlin http://www.christomlin.com/ song). Seriously, that's why God made us! You and I exist to please Him. So any time I start to get selfish about worship and use it to strictly feed myself, I've started to make it something to be sorry for.

Now if we don't want to end up singing about how sorry we are for worship that we got wrong, it would seem that we need to learn how not to make those mistakes. But it seems there are several aspects of worship that must be measured not in terms of what's wrong ... but rather in terms of what's right. So like many things in the Christian life, it is better to focus on what's good and right instead of on what's bad and wrong.

So what needs to be right about worship? What must God's people do to ensure that our worship is His worship? Bear with me while we examine the facts and I'll share the conclusion(s) that the Lord has helped me draw.

Unacceptable worship. The first time we see a problem with worship (aside from Old Testament worship of idols) is Jesus addressing the Pharisees in Matthew 15:3-18. Jesus basically rebuked these religious leaders for what He considered to be worship that was "in vain." In other words, He called them out for their phony religious rituals that were devoid of any real heart for God. The point I can take here is that even worship that we may consider to be most excellent can indeed be quite unsatisfactory to God.

What makes worship acceptable? Jesus said that we are to approach Him as if we were children. I gather from that that He's looking for a simple approach. After all, children are simple-minded. They don't tend to complicate matters to show off their intelligence of hone their skills. One of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer (http://www.awtozer.com/), said that, "God reveals Himself to the child-like, but hides Himself from the sophisticated." So I gather that the more sophisticated the worship is ... the less likely it is going to be pleasing to God. Said differently, I'm convinced that we must simplify our worship and stick to the basics.

I remember a few years ago I was leading a service in a mega-church here in the DFW metro area. We have a string of disasters with the band and basically only one guitarist showed up. No drummer. No keyboard. No piano. No horns. The situation was bleak. How could I be expected to lead worship with only one musician? Clearly I was frustrated and angry.

So taking matters into my own hands I sat down with the sole guitarist and worked out a strategy. We had the songs that he could play well, which would sound good with just one guitar. And then it happened. He broke a guitar string. And he didn't have a replacement. And we had no time to run out and get another one. The service was about to start.

What happened next was a very humbling and defining moment for me as a worship leader. I took the stage, announced to the audience that God was not providing musicians today ... and invited them to join me a capella (i.e., without instruments). We worked our way through some worship songs and some contemplation prayer time as well. After the service, several people came up to tell me that it was one of the best services we'd ever had. Go figure.

Just how do we simplify our worship then? First of all, I think one of the key secrets is that pure worship emanates from people who know the character and nature of God. Jesus said in John 17:23 that this intimate, personal knowledge of Him is experiential. It's fundamental to the core of who we are. You see, God is quite personal and intimate. Religion can never accomplish that.

Secondly, we prepare ourselves for important meetings. Worship is a meeting with the Holy Spirit. It is an appointment with God. And like other appointments, these can be disappointing. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 that many of us have appointments with Him (on judgment day) that will be very disappointing. We may sail through life thinking viewing ourselves as Christ-followers. But when we actually meet him face-to-face, it's going to be very disappointing.

How is that so? Look at the people Jesus was talking about (In Matthew 7:21-23). They are believers. they are religious. They go to church. They engage in regular worship. They think they're going to spend eternity in heaven. But their meeting will be disappointing ... because they didn't prepare themselves for all of the other meetings in life. Are you prepared when you meet God in worship?

Third, authentic worship comes from authentic love. Love for God and other sums it up. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 tells us a lot about what love is and isn't. You could take those words in those verses though and write a great deal more about what love is and isn't ... just based on the criteria here. So it's very simple, really. Do you know God? Do you love God? If you can get those two things right, there's a good chance you're going to get worship right.

Can someone worship God without knowing Him and/or loving Him? No, I don't think so. For you see, the very essence of worship is wrapped up in the knowing and loving. Without knowing God and loving all that is God, no true worship is possible. Oh, don't get me wrong here. You can certainly sing songs in a spirited fashion. But like 1 Corinthians 13 points out, you'd only be making noise.

Let's you and I get together, and let's come back to the heart of worship. It is all about Him. Can you and I now be all about Him as well?

God's Promises

2011-06-29T19:04:00.000-05:00

Maybe you're a little bit like me in that you find some of God's promises to be particularly exciting. Or gratifying. Or comforting. Or hope instilling. When we get to know the living God, there are several things that change. Among them are our perspectives. Let me explain.

In a true relationship with the living God, my perspective changes regarding who I am. I begin to see the limitations of my power and ability, and the ugly truths about my sinful nature. You might say that I start to get a reality check.

In a true relationship with the living God, my perspective about who God is also changes. I begin to know His nature and His character. Having intellectual knowledge about such things as the fact that God never, ever changes ... helps me to understand how God thinks about my perspectives, my circumstances and even my relationship with Him. Again though, it is a reality check.

In a true relationship with the living God, my perspective about life in general changes radically. Having no fear and not being intimidated by the challenges and strife of the modern world, I learn to be at peace regardless of what my circumstances would suggest. I have more confidence in the promises of God.

I'm reading through the Bible right now, start to finish. Slogging through the Old Testament can be a bit challenging. I mean it's hard to stay engaged when it parts of it can seem so abstract to my current reality. But I see the nature of God. And it encourages me greatly.

This morning I was reading in Ezekiel. God had disciplined Israel for its flagrant and continuing sin and rebellion. But given that Israel's suffering had achieved its purpose (to move Israel to repentance), God had something to say about how life would be now. Look at what He has to say to the Israelites about what their lives will be like.

"I will show how holy My great name is. And when I reveal My holiness through you ... then the nations will know that I am the Lord. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regualtions. And you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior ... the ruins will be rebuilt ... and everyone will know that I am the Lord." - Ezekiel 36:22-38

So did you catch all that? Look at God's words. He acknowledges my sinful nature, my disgusting thoughts, my hardened heart, and my filthy behavior. But He boldly announces my cleansing. He casts a vision for me that is filled with hope ... and even wonder. The ruins of my life will be rebuilt in a manner that will let everyone know that He is the Lord and that He is my Lord.

I have to tell you, I don't think it could be any more exciting than that. I actually find myself feeling sorry for people who "grew up in church" or who never had an amazing conversion experience. Jesus said that people who have been forgiven much tend to be the most grateful people. I definitely fit into that category.

I've been forgiven so much. I've been forgiven more than most people. And I know it. It compels me to live for Him each day. It compels me to break into song nearly every day, praising the name of God.

There are people who meander through this life without God. They call themselves atheists or agnostics. Honestly, I don't know how they do it. If I didn't have God and His wonderful promises, along with His transforming power, embracing love and magnificent strength ... well I shudder to think what my life might be like.

When we know how saved we are - when we know how forgiven we are - we can embrace who He's made us to be. We will be His people and He will be our God. And because of that, the whole world will know that He is the Lord.

Oh, praise Him! Oh, praise Him!

Government Corruption

2011-06-26T03:00:00.009-05:00

So I was teaching in Uganda recently, and ended up having a very interesting conversation about politics with a group of men there. They had recently had their presidential elections and some were not happy with the results. (The incumbent president had been re-elected ... again.) At any rate, they spoke in cynical tones about the level of corruption in their government. To them, it was, among other things, a sign that their country is not good place to be.

So we started talking about how corruption is defined. They surmised that the election process, for example, may have been corrupted by the report that an estimated 5,000 dead people cast votes in that election. I pointed out that the international community watchdogs had investigated that claim and concluded that even if it were true, it would not have been sufficient to throw the results of the election one way or another. But my Ugandan friends said despairingly, "How can any election process be legitimate with this corruption in it?"

Of course many of my friends' tirades ended with their referring to how lucky I am that I get to live in America --- where (they assume) we don't have such things as corruption. It's fair to say that they were more than surprised when I explained to them that even America has its corruption in government. I explained how the federal agencies squander money studying the mating habits of insects. I introduced them to the notion of "pork" in government spending - and explained that many of our Congressional representatives brag most about how much money they are able to bring back to their home state from Washington. I told them about $1,800 hammers and $900 screw drivers. They were stunned with disbelief.

Then they mused that surely Mr. Obama is fixing that. So I told them about the time last year when Obama used Air Force One - a Boeing 747 to fly his wife to New York for a dinner date. And we talked about how much money that dinner cost the American tax payers. I told them how much money our government shovels into other countries --- and how billions of it got lost (literally) in Iraq. We talked about how the national debt has spiraled out of control during the Obama presidency. Suffice to say, there was no shortage of examples of corruption and poor leadership in American government.

Like I said, my Uganda friends were stunned. They couldn't imagine such things. For they had always assumed that Ugandan corruption was unique in the world. And this allowed us to have a conversation about the source of corruption. It didn't take long for us to agree together that corruption is probably inevitable given that governments are run by imperfect, sinful humans. Perhaps more importantly, it gave us the opportunity to recognize the fact that God is still in control of even corrupt governments.

And finally, we were able to conclude this conversation by talking about the good that we have in our respective governments.

We agreed that, as Christians, we can be thankful for the freedoms that we have. We can pray for our government leaders. And we can honor God by submitting to the authorities placed over us and being good citizens, modeling godly citizenship. It's true that every country in the world is plagued with corruption. But it is equally true that God can bless us beyond measure even in the midst of the imperfect governments that we serve under.

More On Knowing God

2011-06-23T03:00:00.009-05:00

I blogged a few days ago about the notion of believing in God versus knowing God. I'd been impressed with how purposeful God has been through the Bible to show us that knowing Him relationally is really the end game. Recently, I've been overwhelmed with another Biblical truth. It's found in a pattern of speech. The best example of it is found in the book of Ezekiel.

You may remember that Ezekiel was a prophet, called by God to call the Israelites to repentance. He spoke for God (which is what prophets do even today), and carried very dire warnings to the Israelites. (And they of course did not want to hear whatever Ezekiel had to say.) Anyway, if we examine the things that God told Ezekiel to say to the Israelites, there is a peculiar pattern that is demonstrated over and over again. Let's take a look.

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the LORD." (Ezekiel 13:13-14) (NIV)

Did you catch that? God was speaking (through Ezekiel) to the false prophets. He basically explained how they would experience His wrath in response to their sin and rebellion, neither of which had been confessed or repented of, or even admitted to. But God said the result of Him pouring out His anger on them would be that they would know that He is the Lord. And there is the pattern that I see.

The pattern is evident in many other places in the Bible too. Just in the book of Ezekiel, we see it in Ezekiel 12:15-16 & 18-10. We see it in Ezekiel 13:8-9, 13-14 (above), & 20-21. First we have the sin and rebellion which the Israelites refused to admit, confess, or repent of and turn from. Second we have the pouring out of God's wrath - typically in the form of weather disasters or acts of war. And these Scripture references always conclude with the phrase, "... then they (or you) will know that I am the Lord."

So it seems to me that God is showing us that unconfessed and unrepented-of sin is a result of people not really knowing God. His remedy seems to be expressing His wrath in the form of discipline or punishment that comes from natural disasters (which we call, in modern times, "acts of God"). Or God's wrath and discipline or punishment can come from acts of war - where God uses evil people to implement His discipline of those He's called to be His own.

Maybe I'm a little nutty, but I have to tell you that I can't read such passages without thinking of the natural disasters and acts of war that we have today. The Islamic attack on the U.S. that we refer to as "9/11." The Asian tsunami. The earthquake in Japan. The tornadoes in the south (of the U.S.) The flooding of the Midwest (U.S.) The disaster in New Orleans. Is it possible that these things were allowed to happen - or even caused to happen - by God? And if God did purposefully allow or cause these things, was their purpose to help us get a clue (i.e., know that He is the Lord)?

I'm not a radical, Bible-thumping, holy-roller here. I'll be that last one to point the finger at someone else and say that their suffering is a result of sin that they haven't dealt with. But I have to say, knowing that God never changes and His character never wavers affects how I read the Bible. I cannot read these passages of Scripture and see these patterns of how God deals with His chosen people - and not think of what's going on in the world today.

And maybe that's the point. Maybe, just maybe, God wants us to take a spiritual inventory when we are faced with perplexing natural disasters and acts of war. And maybe, just maybe, He wants us to admit, confess, and repent of whatever sin we might have in our lives. Do you suppose then, for example, that if Americans made it a habit to be diligent about repenting of our sin --- that America might experience fewer natural disasters and have less wars to fight?

Blessed Are the Meek

2011-06-21T03:00:00.011-05:00

Jesus said, "the meek shall inherit the earth." I have always puzzled over that phrase. I mean, I get the inheritance thing. I've never inherited anything (my parents died poor). But I always thought it would be nice to inherit something. I'm just not sure what it would mean for someone to inherit the earth. How exactly does one do that? What exactly does one get when one inherits the earth? But I digress. The bigger question revolves around this notion of meekness.

So, according to Jesus, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5) Who exactly are these people? I mean where did they come from? How did they acquire their meeknesss? If I look around the Bible, I see quite an emphasis on meekness. I mean, Jesus wasn't the first to coin this term. If I go back to the Old Testament, for example, there are at least a couple of passages about the meek.

"Seek ye the Lord all ye meek of the earth ... seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." (Zephaniah 2:3) (KJV) So the meek are to seek meekness? Really? How exactly do they do that? Do they know they're supposed to do that? And this particular passage of Scripture seems to reflect the privilege of the meek. I mean it says they'll be hid from God's wrath when He judges the world. So that would be good, of course. I'd like to be hidden from the wrath of God when He judges the world for its sins.

The psalmist inferred an even deeper level of privilege for the meek. Or maybe it was responsibility he was writing about. "The meek will he guide in judgment; and the meek will he teach his way." (Psalm 25:9) (KJV) So God will guide those of us who are meek, and he will teach us his way. We just have to join the meek. So again I'm asking, "Who are these people?" And maybe more importantly, the question is how I can join them. How can I be counted among the meek, at least from the Lord's perspective? Will He judge me as meek?

1 Peter 3:4 gives us an even broader perspective on the subject of meekness. It says that meekness is an "ornament" and that it goes with a quiet spirit. And it tells us God thinks these things are very valuable.

The Bible talks about meekness as if we all know what it is, how it occurs and how we can pursue it and make it our own. If you ask me, that's being a little presumptuous. I mean, are humans that smart?

Another psalmist says that God "will beautify the meek with salvation." (Psalm 149:4) (KJV) But more modern translations seem to choose other words. I mean they don't use the word meek. Rather they use words like "humble" as if they are interchangeable with "meek." But I'm not sure they are.

The dictionary seems to have two different ways of thinking about "meek." One definition seems positive. It says the meek are "humbly patient or docile, as under provocation from others." It further says that the meek are "patient and long-suffering." Those seem like pretty strong virtues to me. I wouldn't mind being considered meek in that context. But the dictionary also provides another context, which is much less appealing. It says the meek are "overly submissive and compliant, spineless and tame." I don't know about you, but I doubt that's the Biblical meaning of meek.

One thing that I've learned to do over the years is to look at Jesus. I find that He's been the perfect role model for lots of things that I'm trying to figure out. People put those bumper stickers on their car that say "WWJD?" They're asking, "What Would Jesus Do?" I don't think it's a good bumper sticker. But I do think it's good advice for living. We need to be looking to find out what Jesus would do. If we'll stop and consider it, I find that Jesus models just about everything I need to know about successful living.

So in this context of humility or meekness, I look at Jesus and I don't see a spineless door mat. In fact, I see a man who could get angry at injustice and ungodliness. But I also see a man who was quick to forgive, slow to anger, and who experienced ... and expressed deep emotion. When Jesus was falsely accused and tried, I see several behaviors that I find curious.

Jesus did nothing to defend himself. He wasn't defensive. He made no statements on His own behalf. He didn't try to justify His behavior. He asked no questions of His accusers. He answered their questions with as few words as possible. And of course He didn't accuse others, but rather ask His Father to forgive them because they didn't know what they were doing (i.e., accusing Him unfairly). Let's face it, those are odd behaviors. But they are strong clues about this character trait of meekness. I think they show us how to be meek.

That meekness is not weakness has been made very clear to us in the Bible. Numbers 12:3, for example, describes Moses as a man who was "very meek." But of course Moses was strong and courageous. Moses was deeply humble and self-sacrificing, a man of prayer who absolutely trusted God beyond measure. Jesus was no wimp either. He defined meekness in terms of His own character. "...learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:" (Matthew 11:29) (KJV)

A meek spirit enables a Christ-follower to maintain composure in the face of opposition. It helps us to accept adversity without resorting to our sense of entitlement. It produces a peace that "transcends understanding" (Philippians 4:7) (NIV). So it seems that this meekness which the Lord speaks of, it is the "secret sauce" for all true Christ-followers. Frankly, I think it is a gift from God. He instills it in each of us as we seek Him and His ways. Said differently, the Lord will work in us, as we seek Him, to change our perspective about everything. Troubling things won't be as troubling. Challenges won't be as intimidating. Adversity won't steal our peace. And of course pride will not be welcome in the hearts of those who are meek.

So, as Jesus said, "the meek shall inherit the earth." Now, who are these people? They are you and me, my friend. They are you and me. May you find an extra measure of meekness in your soul today. And may you grasp it like a precious gem, committing to never let go of even the tiniest morsel of meekness that you can find. For therein lies our treasure ... and acquiring it makes us His treasure!

Know That He Is God

2011-06-19T03:00:00.007-05:00

We read newspapers and magazines and blogs, and we watch TV and listen to radio, and all this efficient media surveys our culture and tells us that "America is a Christian nation." To some, those are comforting words to hear. To others, not so much. And to a third group of people, perhaps a statement like that is puzzling. I might fall into that third group.

It may be true that a majority of Americans will self-identify themselves as Christians. We meet this people in all walks of American life too. They're not afraid to say, "I believe in God." In fact, some of them will proudly proclaim that truth as if it were a defining point in their life. And perhaps it is. But somehow I doubt it. I've blogged before on the difference between believing in God and submitting to or obeying Him. Let's face it, even the demons believe in God. They just don't want to submit to or obey Him.

But the character and nature of God are relevant when it comes to our beliefs. Jesus said that if we love Him we will obey Him. (John 14:15-21) In fact, Jesus said our obedience to Him is the evidence of our true relationship with Him. Those who don't obey Him are those who don't love Him. (John 14:24)
So it comes down to this, those who know Him will obey Him. And those who obey Him are those who love Him.

For some reason, it seems that mankind gets this wrong. A lot. I have been reading in the Old Testament, some of the prophecies of Ezekiel. (He's the prophet God called to warn the Israelites of their impending destruction because of their unending sin and rebellion against God.) At any rate, I have to admit that sometimes when I'm reading this it can get a little tedious. I mean it seems as if God just rants and raves on and on, saying the same thing over and over and over again. I'm sure the repetition is for emphasis. It's clear God wants to communicate clearly with the Israelites.

One of the phrases that I see God using quite often is a simple little phrase. It usually starts with "Then they will ...." or "Then you will ..." And the sentence is always finished with words to the effect of, "... know that I am the Lord" or "... know that I am God." Quite honestly, this phrase caught my interest and I began to notice how often God said it. I was shocked by what I found.

In the book of Exodus, God says nine (9) different times, " ... know that I am the Lord" or something to that effect. He does it once in the book of Deuteronomy, twice in the book of 1 Kings, and twice in the book of Isaiah. (This is just my own counting. There could be even more instances that I missed.) But the book where God says this the most is in the book of Ezekiel. There, God says "... know that I am the Lord" at least fifty (50) times! My goodness, it seems to be a point that He really wants us to take note of!

So why is it so important for God to teach us to "know that He is God?" I mean, is there a difference between believing in God and knowing God? Of course there is! And that is just the point. We humans, especially in American culture, seem content to believe in God. I know, I know ... sometimes we're told that's all that's required for entrance to heaven. ("All you gotta do is believe!")

But it seems pretty clear to me that "All you gotta do is believe!" is not quite a true statement. There is substantially more that you "gotta do." If you and I expect God to honor His covenant and welcome us into the Kingdom of Heaven, we're going to have to do more than believe in God. Rather that belief in us must compel us to seek Him and know Him.

I liken this to the existence of martians or the Loch Ness monster. You and I may believe that they exist. But if we really thought they did, we would be compelled to go find them, observe them, etc. I visited the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC once, and was able to put my bare fingers on moon rock. It was truly "not of this world." The interesting thing was that people were lined up for hours to be able to put their finger on a sliver of actual rock from the moon. That's what true belief does. It compels curiosity and a seeking.

Similarly, many of us like this or that. We have hobbies ... things that bring us joy. And what do we do? We seek those things out? If they're experiences, like fishing or dining out or camping ... we seek to do them often. We believe that they are good things. We believe that they are pleasurable and good for us. And so we seek them. Belief compels us to action.

And so it is with God. It is never enough to say that you "believe in God." Like I said earlier, even the demons can get that far! But the differentiator here is what you do with that belief. Is it an intellectual knowledge, arrived at with logic? Or is it a heartfelt instinct, arrived at with experience? Any belief in God must move its holder to seek Him, to experience Him and to love Him. And when that love is real, it will manifest itself in our obeying Him. For when we know Him and love Him, that's when we obey Him. And like He says so many times in Ezekiel, "... then you will know that I am God."

A "Must" Read

2011-06-17T03:00:00.062-05:00

So I was on a plane this week, flying back to Dallas from New York. I'd been carrying this book, "Encounters," with me for a couple weeks. But I was always too busy to read it. Mind you, I'd read the manuscript last year. In fact, I was a main encourager of the author to get it published. So you'd have thought I couldn't be surprised by what was in it. You'd have thought.

But there I sat, in seat 22D, hunched over this book, being more than a little surprised. The chapters are short, each telling the story of someone who encountered Christ during His lifetime here on earth. The stories are told in first-person account, and as I read them, I sat up, hunched over more and became absolutely riveted. Before I knew it, I was at the chapter on Levi ... and it hit me. The tears started to well up in my eyes. I was almost embarrassed ... thinking of what the fellow passengers squeezed in around me would think.

But I couldn't help it. As I read on, I began to see dimensions of Jesus I hadn't really considered before. I got to see first person accounts of the impact encountering Christ had on their lives. Quite frankly, it reminded me of my own encounter(s) with Christ --- and how those have changed me so profoundly. Make no mistake, when the characters in these stories encountered Jesus, nothing was ever the same again. Everything changes. When personal encounters with Jesus Christ come alive.

It's been that way for me too. Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. In fact, there's been nothing in my life more impactful than my own encounters with Christ. This book is helping me lock into that truth. I had the privilege a couple of years ago to make the acquaintance of the author of this book, Pastor Randy Hill. We've become close friends actually, and I encouraged him to submit this book to a publisher. As I'm reading the book this week and acknowledging its impact on me, it just affirms for me that his getting this published was a divine appointment from God Himself.

I don't normally endorse books (or anything else) on this web site. But I have to say I've never seen a book written like this. I can't imagine anyone would read it and not be touched by a new perspective on who Jesus is, who God is ... and perhaps more importantly, who they are in Christ. It is frankly that powerful of a book!

The book is called Encounters. It's official release date isn't until July, but you can get it on Amazon.com now. Or have your local bookstore order it for you. At any rate, I highly recommend you get yourself a copy today. And if you have a friend whom you'd like to see Jesus touch in a special way, get them a copy too.

http://www.amazon.com/Encounters-Stories-Healing-Randy-Hill/dp/0768437679/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1308426886&sr=1-1

Harold Camping

2011-06-15T20:07:00.003-05:00

I've blogged before about the opportunity that exists to write a book or produce a documentary that we might title, "Christians Behaving Badly." Now the definition of a Christian is simply someone who follows Christ. But in modern culture, a great many people self identify themselves as Christians ... without there being any actual evidence to support such a claim. Even worse, there is often substantial evidence to the contrary ... where the behaviors and even the beliefs that can be observed run so counter to who Jesus Christ is ... that there can be no doubt that the claims to Christianity are fraudulent.

Recently the world had a good laugh over the failed prediction of Harold Camping, the 89 year old founder of Family Radio Network. You may recall that Camping had predicted the "end of the world" would arrive on May 21st. Of course it didn't. This wasn't the first time that Mr. Camping had predicted the so-called end of the world. He's given specific dates before that didn't come true. And when they don't come true, he's unapologetic. Instead he claims technicalities and rationalizes his wrongness.

True Christians ought to be able to see through these shenanigans. One of the most basic things the Bible tells us to do is to test everything that we're told against the Word of God. And if someone is sharing divine prophecy, we should look to see if it actually comes true. Prophecy from the Lord will always come true. There'll never be a need to explain why it didn't. Simply put, there's no such thing as rationalization or justification in Biblical prophecy. Either it comes true (and is genuine) or it doesn't (and is fraudulent). Such is the case with Mr. Camping and his pattern of predictions that don't come true.

Maybe you're like me and you've never paid much attention to Mr. Camping or his ministry. When his latest prediction hit the news wires, I had to go do some research to figure out who he is. What I found astounded me way more than his simply erroneous prediction. While all the world seems to be familiar with Camping's prediction that the world would end on May 21st, 2011 --- it seems that most of the world has missed an even more ridiculous claim made by Mr. Camping. To be sure, it is a claim that even further cements his role as a heretic and false prophet.

It seems that Mr.Camping declared that May 21st, 1988 was the day on which God - being utterly weary of the lapsing of the churches from revealing truth - handed them over to Satan! (Yes, you read that correctly!) Camping claimed that, as a consequence of this act on God's part, all organized churches on the face of the earth came under the direct dominion of Satan. Further Camping claimed that all true believers were then obliged to exit those churches. He even said that all pastors in all churches everywhere became, albeit unwittingly, servants of Satan on May 21st, 1988.

"Satan is ruling in all the churches, and those dear people and those pastors are (now) emissaries of Satan." according to Mr. Camping. He claims that those who remain in those churches after that date are really "under the wrath of God."

Are you getting this? God, being disgusted with mankind and its organized religion, picked May 21st, 1988 as the day to hand all organized churches over to the devil. Anyone who is a true Christ-follower was obliged on (and after) that date to leave their churches and no longer be associated with any organized church at all. Those who stayed in the churches after that date, and those who continued to pastor those churches after that date, are actually minions of Satan and subject to the wrath of an angry God. This is, of course, all according to Mr. Camping.

This sweeping prophecy or proclamation leaves millions of so-called Christians without any hope of heaven. In fact, after making this proclamation, Camping moved to stop featuring a great many legitimate Bible teachers on his Family Radio programming. He said that "God stopped saving" people in churches on that date and claimed Matthew 24:15-16 as the Scripture to back up his claim.

Now Mr. Camping claims that his predictions all "come from the Bible." Unfortunately, they only come to him. This meets the classic definition of "private interpretation" of Scriptures, which we are clearly warned against in 2 Peter 1:20. Said differently, even the Bible categorizes Mr. Camping as a heretic and his so-called prophecies as nonsense.

Folks, we are not to be deceived by such moronic behavior. And my guess is that the vast majority of modern day Christians aren't fooled. They just look at Mr. Camping's so-called prophecy and naturally sense that it is a load of crap, not worth the paper it takes to report it. But I wonder if perhaps we might have an even greater responsibility ... to confront this heresy and quiet this heretic.

I remember when the radical Muslims have acted out badly --- and most of us condemned organized Islam for not speaking out against them. But it appears that our non-Christian brothers and sisters could assert the same claim against Christianity. We have idiotic and potentially dangerous behavior on the part of a few bad so-called Christians (like Mr. Camping). But we stick our heads in the sand, nervously laugh and do absolutely nothing to silence this fool.

I'm certain that God will deal with Mr. Camping in his time. To be sure, Mr. Camping will be held accountable for what he's doing. But I wonder if the rest of us shouldn't maybe be expecting to be held accountable for what we've not been doing. What responsibility do we each have in this fiasco?

Carnal Christian?

2011-06-02T10:36:00.021-05:00

Religion is an interesting paradigm, if you examine it in the context of its culture. Here in the U.S.A., I believe most segments of our culture prefer to be of some religion. By that I mean that most people would agree it's a good thing to identify yourself with a religion. But which religion you claim for yourself doesn't seem to be nearly so important as is the simple fact that you are of some religion.

Indeed, our modern culture seems to not even flinch when people convert from one religion to another --- providing they are switching between commonly accepted (and embraced) religions in our culture. Some religions are viewed more as cults or simply perversions of of more mainstream religions. Mormonism would be an example. While Mormons are typically outstanding citizens, our culture sees their religion as being on the fringe, at best.

Oddly enough, we don't seem to worry much about the God a religion focuses on. Rather we focus on the rules of each religion. So we tend to look at religions by focusing on their differences. You might, for instance, hear someone mention a religion what you're not familiar with. Immediately your mind goes to the potential differences. You may ask, "So how does that religion differ from my religion?"

I find it strange that we don't first try to examine what the religions have in common. I've learned some important truths that would seem to make that a wiser way to look at various religions. Let's take a look.

The vast majority of wars fought in the history of the world have been fought over religion or religious principles. Christians versus Catholics. Catholics versus Muslims. Communists versus Jews. And those are just to name a few. We still have the entire range of issues found in religious persecution. (An example might be the Christians who were martyred for their efforts to translate the Bible into the English language.)

People tend to live peaceably with each other when they focus on their points of agreement (as opposed to focusing on their points of disagreement). It is more than likely that the thousands of denominations (religions) in the world have a great deal in common. Morality-based behaviors, for example, tend to be common to all religions. Reverence for the god of each religion, respect for parents, celebration of children, and stewardship of financial resources don't tend to vary much from one religion to the other.

Now the great travesty in any religion is when its people don't live their alleged values. They'll claim to be Christian or Catholic or Muslim, etc. But their lives don't look much different than the lives of the culture they find themselves in. Said differently, their religion doesn't seem to have had much impact at all on their lifestyles.
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Christianity (and Judaism that preceded it in the Old Testament) has always been plagued by hypocrites. Jesus Christ spoke firmly to the Pharisees and others who tried to impress man-made notions and rules onto the actual Words of God. To put it bluntly, there've always been those who were religious --- but not godly. And therein lies the problem that virtually all religions seem to face. It doesn't matter whether the religion is "mainstream" or not. The fact is any religion always seems to have considerably more people who claim its values than live its values. They're modern-day hypocrites and Pharisees.
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Of course, Christianity is no exception to this rule. Indeed, modern Christianity in the U.S. is probably in far worse trouble on this front than even its own leaders would imagine. People will claim to "believe in God," and make statements to that effect boldly. But the core values of Christianity (i.e., put God first and love others as you would want to be loved yourself) are sorely lacking in the lives of these so-called "believers."

The Apostle Paul (and others) spoke and wrote extensively about people who don't live their own values. In 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, Paul makes a clear distinction between "spiritual" Christians who live life fully yielded to the Holy Spirit - and "carnal" Christians who tend to live life based on their own understanding. These latter folks tend to make decisions based on what they want most, and you don't find much in their lives that is yielded to the will of God.
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Of course, the Bible tells us that "all of heaven" celebrates when even one person makes a decision to become a Christ-follower. (Luke 15:7) But Jesus said just as clearly that He would have no use for those who are "luke warm" and who's faith has not differentiated them in the world. (Matthew 7:21-23, Revelation 3:15-16) In fact, Jesus considers these so-called "believers" to be "evil doers." Did you know that? Simply claiming to be a Christian - but not actually living a life that's fully surrendered to Christ and His ways - makes one an "evil doer" in Jesus' eyes!
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I get very aggravated when I see (mostly) televangelists, for example, advising people that "all they have to do" is "say a simple prayer." So they lead the masses in prayer and then celebrate the number of people who allegedly "got saved." But it's not just on television. Our local churches in the U.S.A. commonly and routinely celebrate the number of people who "got saved." If they'll self-identify, most churches will send them some literature about being a Christian. Some will schedule a baptism ceremony. But frankly, I don't think that's enough.
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I remember about a year ago, one of my sons made a decision in favor of Christ while at a youth camp. That weekend, the youth pastor schedule what certainly felt like an "emergency baptism" ceremony. When questioned, he said he wanted to "get them while they're fresh." So we had a ceremony, baptized those youth and then celebrated the number of them that "got saved" at camp that year. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough. For the most part, they continued to live as they had before. In fact, my own son's life today likes absolutely no different than it did before. Like many teen-agers, he's as stubborn and rebellious as ever.
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I can't help but think about Jesus' words. You see, it's clear that Jesus doesn't care how many "got saved" or "came to Christ" at youth camp. Jesus doesn't give a hoot about the baptism ceremony that was hurriedly scheduled on the fly to "catch 'em while they're fresh." Quite simply, Jesus says if they aren't growing in Christ and exhibiting an albeit emerging Christ-likeness ... He will consider them evil-doers and He will not plan to acknowledge them to His Father (God). Yikes!
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You see, each born-again believer - regardless of their chronological age, must "grow in grace, and in the (transforming) knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18) It's called "spiritual growth" or "spiritual maturity." And it comes only through study of God's Word, accompanied by transforming belief and marked obedience. It is through this progressive obedience and emerging godliness, mimicking Christ's own character ... that we become God's children.
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It is NOT enough to "say a simple prayer." It is NOT enough to participate in a baptism ceremony. It is NOT enough to self-identify yourself as a Christ-follower. And it doesn't matter how you see yourself, how your pastor sees you, how your parents see you or how any other human being that ever walked the face of the earth sees you. The only thing that matters is how God Himself sees you. And He clearly says that without substantive evidence, we are evil-doers whom He intends to deny.
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So, how is your obedience today? Are you being led by the Holy Spirit in your thoughts, words and actions? Or are you being led by your own understanding and your own desires - doing whatever you think "is best?"

Blog Resumes

2011-05-22T11:52:00.004-05:00

Okay folks, the long hiatus is officially over. Blogspot appears to have resolved the formatting issues that were so troubling to me. So effective June 1st, I will resume publishing the VictoriousConqueror blog, and on August 1st I will resume publishing the ModernDayProphet and DearVictorious blogs.

http://www.victoriousconqueror.blogspot.com/
The musings of committed Christ follower on life and application of spiritual principles.

http://www.dearvictorious.blogspot.com/
Answering any and all questions that people have about faith and its practical application.

http://www.moderndayprophet.blogspot.com/
Words of prophecy revealed to me durign my own personal timewith the Lord each day.

"Normal Life"

2011-04-10T05:59:00.003-05:00

We were getting into bed the other night and chatting casually. Basically we were looking back over all that had happened that day. Most remarkable to us was that our day wasn't boring or normal. I think I said something like, "I thought life was to get more boring the older you get. Aren't we old enough yet to have a boring life?" My wife corrected me and said something like, "Well that only applies to people who have a normal life. You forget dear ... that we don't have a normal life." And I knew she was right. We don't. In fact, I don't know anyone who has a life that looks anything like ours. It's not that we're special. It's not that our life is considerably better ... or worse than anyone else's life. It's just that it is different. How does our life differ from the lives of just about everyone else that we know? It's actually hard to explain. But I suspect it has something to do with how we've constructed our family. My wife and I have 11 adopted children. Three of them were adopted here in the U.S. The other eight are in Uganda. To be sure, we'd like to have them here with us all the time, but so far God hasn't made that possible. So, we're maintaining two households, one here in the U.S. and one in Uganda. We've got two electric bills, two water bills, two payments, and of course two food bills. We've got school expenses --- sometimes it seems that they are about to overwhelm us! But it's not just our children and family situation that makes life different. We are in ministry. Many years ago we began to see our marriage as a ministry base. And as ministries go, this one covers a range of activities. My wife, for example, mentors an Iranian women who is trying to leave Islam and become a Christian. She only speaks Farsi and is struggling with English. I got involved in a ministry that trains indigenous pastors in rural Africa - and I write the curriculum myself ... based on what their needs are. As you might imagine, my wife's ministry focus seems to center around children. So she is constantly engaging in some way with children. It might be teaching a pre-school class at our church. It might be collecting and sorting clothes for foster children. It could be volunteering in the English-as-a-second-language lab and an underprivileged school. A few years ago my wife decided to return to work outside the home. She got a job in the library of a school on the east (poor) side of town. After working there a little while, she got laid off. But she felt so called to minister to these children that she continued to work there for another full year --- for free. Now I don't know if this is true, but it also seems that our lives are considerably more complicated than the lives of other people that we know. Maybe they are, or maybe that's just my perception. But we seem to have more than our fair share of problems and obstacles to contend with on a regular basis. More things break down. More things need sorting out. Sometimes there's more drama. (Sometimes there's a lot of drama!) None of this deters us, mind you. We plod through it, knowing that God is sufficient for all our needs and obstacles in life. We try not to worry about anything, and just usually turn to Him and say something like, "Well okay, God. How did you want me to respond to this?" The final area where I think our life is different and maybe not so normal is in the level of blessings we've received. Without a doubt, we are the most blessed people that we know. I don't say that smugly or anything. Truly we don't deserve to be the most blessed people that we know. But we've seen God intervene in our lives, time and time again, in some pretty miraculous ways. And we see how tragic life could be without God leading us through it. Let me expound on that just a bit. I remember reading Psalm 23 several years ago. At the time I was going through quite a bit of pain and heartache. This Psalm didn't comfort me at the time. But I identified with it. I was focused on my problems and my misery. The psalmist wrote, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death ..." I thought to myself, "Oh, he's in my neighborhood. That's definitely where I've spent most of my life ... walking through the valley of the shadow of death!" Quite honestly, looking back, I see that I was a bit too focused on my problems at the time. Maybe I was having myself a pity party or something. But I continued to think about that psalm and God asked me to consider the rest of it as well. "... I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He restoreth my soul. ..."Oh my goodness, He totally does all that! In fact God gives me peace in the midst of circumstances that would suggest there is should be no peace at all. It wasn't long before I began to see Psalm 23 as a wonderful truth in my life. I also realized that my life is not "normal" and that I'm quite okay with that. I don't want life to be normal. I want it to keep being interesting and challenging and dynamic. Mind you, I would never want to face life without God. But since I have God, the entire meaning of life changes. Most of all, it goes from "normal" to extraordinary before you even realize it!

Christians & Lying

2011-03-26T03:00:00.004-05:00

As a young boy I started doing it without even realizing I was doing it. I guess I did it because I thought it would help me “stay out of trouble.” I would do something wrong, get caught and realize that a spanking was imminent. So I would lie. I didn’t break the lamp. I didn’t eat the cookie. I didn’t steal the toy. I didn’t write on the wall.

I remember as a father myself, noticing one day that my two-year old son was lying. How did he know to do that? My goodness, he wasn’t even old enough to have talked about the concept with anyone! I’d learned at church that we are all born with a sin nature. Frankly seeing my toddler lie for the very first time was a stunning confirmation of that Biblical truth!

As I grew through the years, I don’t guess my lying habit got much better. If anything, it just got more sophisticated. I learned to lie to get what I wanted. I lied to impress people. I lied because I wanted people to like me … and figured the lie was better than the truth. In some respects, the lies I told began to be defense tactics. I didn’t like who I was and assumed everyone else would feel the same way. So I tried to pretend I was someone I wasn’t. By the time I grew to adulthood, it had gotten so that I could hardly tell the lies from the truth. Did I believe my own lies?

Relationships are difficult to sustain with lies. Let me tell you. I vividly remember my mother exclaiming that she could handle just about anything, but emphatically stating that she hated liars. I would hear her words, “I hate liars!” And I would sulk off to my room --- knowing full well that I was a liar --- and concluding then that my mother must hate me. This is not a good conclusion for an insecure teen-ager to draw.

It would be less than honest if I didn’t fess up to continuing to lie. Even in my career I became quite the liar and manipulator. I could get what I wanted, when I wanted. I could step on anyone I needed to in order to make myself look good and get ahead. And often I did. At least until Jesus got hold of me though. When we first adopted our kids and turned to regular church attendance “for the sake of the children,” God started to do a work in me. Frankly He had a lot of work to do!

It wasn’t long before I found myself truly surrendering my heart, my life, and my will to the Lord. And yes, I had to surrender my lies to Him as well. Today I’m not a liar. In fact I don’t recall the last time I told a lie. Somewhere along the line that habit slipped away and was replaced by honesty that sometimes is admittedly a bit brutal. Let’s just say that not everyone is a fan of all of my truth.

But the thing I’ve learned is that lying is an instinctive human behavior. Remember my two-year old son and that sin nature we’re all born with? I’m convinced lying is its foundation. We dress up the lies and call them “white lies.” And our society rationalizes and justifies them to no end. Even in our churches we lie. But you know, the thing I’ve discovered is that my mother was pretty godlike in her view of lying. As it turns out, God hates lying – and His recourse with those who persist in telling lies is not pretty.

I ran across an author recently, Paul Tautges. He’s a pastor in Wisconsin I think. Anyway, he wrote a blog and called it “12 Reasons God Hates Liars.” I read it with intrigue, and took note of the relevant application he made of some tried and true Scriptures on the subject. Let’ take a look.

· God loves truthful speech and honors truth-tellers. [Proverbs 3:3-4 & 12:22]

· Lying reveals a lack of godliness. [Proverbs 12:17 & 13:5]

· Lying is the mark of an unfaithful person. [Proverbs 14:5, 21:6, & 19:22]

· Lying is often motivated by fear (which Christians are not supposed to have). [Genesis 20:9-11 & Isaiah 41:10 & 13]

· Hypocrites are addicted to lying. (They have to have it!) [Hosea 11:12]

· Liars love impure conversation. [Proverbs 17:4]

· Lying is a cause of unanswered prayer! [Isaiah 59:2-3]

· Jesus called Satan the “father of lies,” and Satan leads mankind to join him. [John 8:44 & Acts 5:3]

· Lying often accompanies (or tries to cover) other sin(s). [Hosea 4:1-2]

· Liars will perish. [Psalm 5:6, Proverbs 19:9, & Revelation 21:8]

· Truthful people prevail in the end. [Psalm 63:11 & Proverbs 12:19]

In Colossians 3, the Apostle Paul calls all of us who have been born-again in Christ Jesus to put away the old self and put on the new, clothing ourselves in righteousness (amongst other things). This of course includes lying. Even white lies are not suitable for a Christ-follower, under any circumstances, at any time.

I have to confess that I actually disagree with the author, Paul Tautges. I don’t think there are 12 Reasons Why God Hates Liars. For I don’t believe God hates liars --- any more than I believe my mother hated me. What God hates is lies. And the people who tell them simply cannot be in His presence.

Did you know that? Were you made aware, when you gave your life to Christ, that even the most harmless looking lie separates you from God? And of course lies of any kind separate us from lots of other important relationships in life … such as our spouse, children, parents and siblings. Simply put, there is no place in the Christian life for a lie.

I’ve had to make a continuing effort, and sometimes a valiant effort to turn from my sin of lying. Even today I’ll catch myself in an awkward situation where I might feel as if a lie would be easier. I might even be tempted to rationalize and justify the lie as being more humane, perhaps more socially acceptable or even more polite. But of course, those would be lies that I tell myself. And strangely enough, those of us who've struggled with lying often lied to ourselves more than anyone!

As Christ followers, let us make it a practice to turn from the sin of lying, and develop a core competency in dealing always with the truth. Jesus said that, “the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32) So let’s get with it --- let’s get set free!

I'll Be Mad

2011-03-22T03:00:00.009-05:00

Maybe you've had one of them too. I'm talking about those conversations with people who tell you that they're going to get mad if certain conditions exist. "If so-and-so does thus-and-such ... I'm going to be mad!" Or maybe they say something like, "I'm gonna be really mad ....!"

Have you ever thought about what this really means? The individual tries to anticipate the behavior other people, and then predicts their own reaction. Or possibly they're just informing you of a decision they know that they'll make. Really, can you do that? I mean can you decide a decision before you actually make it?

I guess you can. You can set up some parameters and decide ahead of time how you'll handle things inside and outside of those parameters. Marital fidelity might be an example. I decide ahead of time about the commitment I have to my wife. Then should I run across a temptation to sin against her, I've already determined what my response will be.

So it could be just setting boundaries and deciding how you'll enforce those boundaries --- or what you'll do when they're honored. But I'm not so sure that this works when it comes to emotional responses like anger. In fact, I'm rather persuaded that anger is one of those things in humanity that acts like a double-edged sword. As such, anger can be constructive or destructive.

Jesus got angry. (Did you know that?) His anger was generally displayed in one of two instances though. Jesus got angry and acted on His anger when God didn't receive the proper respect that He deserved. An example might be when the money changers were in the temple. Jesus also got angry when the poor, the children, the weak and other underdogs were being taken advantage of.

So I like to think of Jesus' anger examples as illustrations of righteous anger. And the thing is, I've not been able to find other examples of righteous anger. It seems that the most common appearances of anger even within myself have sin as their motivator. Ugh!

So if I didn't get treated fairly, or if I don't think someone held up their end of he deal, I can get angry. But is that really righteous anger? No, I don't think so. For you see, it's born of my sinful nature. It comes from my sense of entitlement, my self righteousness or even my pride. It could come from my selfishness or self-centeredness or inflated view of myself. It could come from my unloving attitude towards others, my unforgiveness or simply my unrealistic and inappropriate expectations.

Jesus set the tone for anger. And I've concluded in my own walk with Christ that He meant for His followers only to experience righteous anger that defends the honor of God and takes up a loving advocate for those who cannot defend, speak or provide for themselves.

Love God and love others, Jesus said, for these are the two most important commandments and everything else rises on their foundation. Who knew that He was talking about anger?

So the next time you're tempted to get angry, or you feel the emotional response of anger rising up within you, stop and check your motive. Why exactly are you mad? What has happened or not happened that stimulates you so?

Can you line it (your anger) up with loving God and loving others? If not, then you must put it down. Immediately. The Bible tells us not to sin in our anger, but the simple truth is that if our anger is not checked with God's priorities - or backed with God's purposes, then sin is written all over it. Any questions?

Pain & Learning

2011-03-19T03:00:00.010-05:00

Did you ever tear through a book so quickly that you surprised yourself? I sat down to start reading this week in the Old Testament book of Job. I had intended to read a chapter or two a day --- I was surprised to see myself finishing the book of Job the very next day!

I'd read someone quoted not long ago as saying that pain is necessary for learning to occur. Maybe that caused me to be more than a little intrigued in Job's story. What exactly did he learn from the loss of his wealth, his family and his health? Or did he really learn anything? Could it be true that pain is necessary for learning?

Of course this wasn't the first time I'd read the book of Job. His story has always been one of the more noteworthy stories in the Bible. I've especially been in awe at how it begins. "One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them." (Job 1:6)

Really now. Why were the angels presenting themselves before the Lord? Was that all of the angels, or just some of them? And how is it that Satan was able to join that meeting? Or was he not invited? Did he just notice the line of angels funneling into God's front door and decide to sneak in with them to see what was going on?

So after this mass assembly, God and Satan strike up a conversation. "Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job?'" (Job 1:8) Now why would God do that? Was God bragging on Job to Satan? God proceeds to tell Satan that there is no one on earth as righteous and godly as Job. Why would God want to call that to Satan's attention?

I don't know about you, but after seeing how it played out and what God and Satan agreed to do with Job (i.e., let Satan try to break Job to prove God wrong about his righteousness and godliness), I came to a quick conclusion. If God and Satan are ever having another chat, I sure as heck hope my name doesn't come up in the conversation!

But I digress. As I was saying, I surprised myself by tearing through the book of Job this week. Maybe it was this new question in the back of my mind about pain and learning. There is this thing about mankind and suffering or pain. We seem to think that suffering has no positive value whatsoever, so we seek to avoid it at all costs. Seriously, most humans will do just about anything to avoid suffering. It's as if we don't believe suffering has any positive value whatsoever.

However, I notice that in God's perspective, suffering is seen as a privilege. The Apostle Paul spoke in the New Testament about the joy of suffering, rejoicing in his suffering, etc. Certainly we can see that Jesus' suffering was for the good of all mankind. So I don't have any problem seeing that suffering has some value. But of course I see more value in the suffering of others than I do in the suffering that I might myself be subject to.

The thing is, Job was already a righteous and godly man, without sin, fully obedient to God ... when his whole story in the Bible started to unfold. In fact, Job was so good and so perfect that God was bragging on him to Satan. But we see at the end of the story, Job is an even better man. He has acquired an even greater eternal perspective on both God and mankind. Job was humbled in his suffering. And his suffering had caused him to examine his faith in God more acutely than he ever had before.

Another thing I notice about Job's story is that he experienced suffering on two different levels. First, he had to grieve the loss of his fortune, family and loved ones. In other words, he lost the things and people that comprised his environment and circumstances. That created one level of loss and grief. But it left him focused on the goodness of God. In that level of pain and suffering, he didn't question God.

But when Job's suffering came from personal physical pain, everything was different. When he had boils and other physical ailments, his pain became very physical and much more personal. In that level of suffering, he lost sight of who God is. That physical pain seemed to have the ability to blot out Job's view of hope. He began to question or even accuse God.

In the last year, I myself have been stricken with a physical ailment that results in physical pain. Last August I landed in the hospital with a back problem. The neuro-surgeon that's treating me doesn't believe it is serious enough (yet) to warrant the high-risk, complicated surgery that would be required to try and correct the problem. He explains that the surgery is so difficult that it would be unlikely to produce a much better result. So I suffer.

Mind you, my physical suffering isn't anything like what Job had to endure. It's nowhere like that. But it wakes me in the night --- the pain keeping me awake. It's with me during the day, in the good times and bad. I find the pain changes or at least clouds my perspective at times. When I'm hurting, it's hard to be joyful. Truly, a dose of narcotics (pain killers) and muscle relaxers seems to make my worship a bit more sincere. For pain has even influenced my personal worship of God.

The fact of the matter is that I deserve to suffer. I don't feel God has been unjust in leaving me with this pain. And intellectually I trust that God has a plan for even my pain and suffering. The thing about Job's suffering is that nobody ever explained it to him. He went to his grave never knowing the reason for his suffering. Indeed, the full purpose(s) of Job's suffering may not even be revealed now, thousands of years later! Perhaps the reasons for Job's suffering are still unfolding before us now.

So I'm not sure about this suffering thing. As I grow older, I find physical pain a little more present in my days and a little more influential in my perspective. I've told my wife that I want to suffer better. I don't want to be one of those people who is so focused on their pain and suffering that they appear to "enjoy poor health." Truly I want to be someone to walks in spite of his pain, who prevails in the face of his pain, and who looks past his pain to the higher truths of life in Christ.

But I'm not deceived about the size of this challenge. Physical suffering is some of the most effective suffering known to man. My prayer is that mine be kept in its proper perspective. May I always take dominion over my physical pain and not be blinded by it to the hope that I have in Christ Jesus. May my suffering not obscure my view of all the rich blessings God has poured out on me. Through my suffering, may God be glorified. And through my suffering, may God be pleased.

Yes, that is my prayer. May my suffering be for nought. May my suffering bring Him glory. May my personal pain be for my education and growth. And let my pain and suffering keep me so focused on God that I happily tear through every other book of the Bible like a dehydrated and thirsty animal who stumbled on a spring of cool, refreshing water from heaven.

Following God

2011-03-15T09:38:00.006-05:00

It's maybe the one part of the Christian life that I like the least. It's always nice to read my Bible and see how God says to live, learn God's standards for everything, and even become acutely familiar with the character and nature of God. But then it always comes back to me. I have to make practical application of Biblical principles in my own life.

On the surface, making practical application of Biblical principles might not seem like such an onerous task. Or maybe it is. It's not that I have trouble figuring out what to do with things like, "Thou shall not steal." Those are the easy ones. But take it down another level or two and try to figure out which company God wants me to send a resume to. Or how should I invest my IRA retirement funds? Which vehicle does God want me to buy? And when should I even be shopping for a new vehicle? Do I wait until the old one doesn't run any more?

It seems like we can walk a fine line between obedience and self-deception. I could, for instance, conclude that God wants to bless me with a nice new car. And that could be true. Or maybe it's not. It could be my selfishness deceiving me. I mean I can rationalize and justify nearly anything. Which diet does God want me to go on? Does God want me to diet at all? Is it okay to spend $180 per month on a health club when there are starving people in the world? Is cable TV an extravagant indulgence?

I had to roll over a 401K plan (retirement fund for those of you outside the U.S.) into a self-directed IRA (retirement fund) recently. When I met with the financial advisor at Fidelity, she asked me when I plan to retire. Honestly, I didn't have an answer. I simply don't know. I guess I'll retire whenever God says so. I don't find retirement in the Bible. So my assumption is that the modern day concept of retirement is not Biblical.

I expect to work until I drop dead, or at least until I can't work any more. But that doesn't mean I'll always work for pay. I would very much, for example, like to work for my church full time. But realizing that my church won't hire me and pay me, I assume I'd have to win the lottery or come up with my own funding some other way. Would that be Biblical? How would God feel about that? If I didn't need a salary to pay my bills and could devote myself to working at my church full time --- would I be doing so with God-honoring motives? Or would I be selfishly trying to magnify myself?

These are the questions that get harder to answer. There are rare times when I've prayed and asked God to "give me a sign." Maybe you've prayed a prayer like yourself. Did He? Did God give you a sign? If He did, when did you recognize that it was a sign from God?

Not long ago, I felt conflicted about some thinking in my career. Admittedly, I see myself as a proverbial tent maker - who just does secular work to fund ministry endeavors. So when changes appear on the horizon, I start praying for wisdom and discernment. This particular time, I asked God to give me a sign to affirm the answer I thought He was giving me in prayer. But now I find I'm seeing things that look and feel like signs from God. Unfortunately, I'm back in prayer to the Lord. "God, is this one of those signs I asked you for? Is that how you intended this, Lord?"

How can mankind be so dull or dense as to ask God for a sign and then wrestle with whether the signs are actually signs at all? Such is the dilemma of this piece of mankind that I see in the mirror. I'm reminded of King Solomon, who asked God for wisdom and became the wisest man to ever live. Did he ever have conflicted thoughts about whether he was operating inside of God's will?

You know, the older I get the more I realize that following God requires a uniquely intense focus. He's pretty easy to follow in the big things (i.e., "Thou shall not kill."). In the smaller things though, it seems that my mind wants to play God. My core competency of manipulation and control wants to kick in and direct my foot steps.

So my prayer is simply this, "Lord, let me not be deceived about who it is that I'm following. My heart and soul are yours and it is my intent to walk directly behind you wherever you go. Help me to discern that path. Lead me with a cloud by day and with fire by night. Let me not waste time trying to figure out where you're going or whether it's even you that I'm following. For when this prayer is answered, then I'll know that I've truly arrived. And I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen."

False Gods

2011-03-10T03:00:00.001-06:00

When I first really gave my life to Jesus Christ, I began to read my Bible earnestly. I mean I read it daily, and spent time seeking understanding of its truths. I'll confess that I found the most relevance in the New Testament. I'd occasionally make a visit to the books Psalm or Proverbs. But for the most part, that was the extent of my interest in the Bible.

A few years ago, I started to intentionally spend a bit more time in the Old Testament. As I went, I began to see some fascinating truths. It seemed that the true nature and character of God were being revealed me in so many new ways. Even today, I believe the Old Testament is probably the best place to get to know who God really is ... and has always been (since He never changes).

It's been said that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I'm finding real tangible evidence of that simple truth as I read the Old Testament. Seriously, I've probably been spending most of my daily Bible time in the Old Testament now for a few years. And it's fascinating the connections that I find between ancient history and modern times. It's also been said that things don't really change that much over time. I'm discovering evidence that would indicate this is especially true when it comes to the human race.

When you read through the Old Testament you find that the Israelites ... God's chosen people ... had a recurring problem with false gods. They encounter the one true God. He would reveal Himself to them in magnificent ways - often accompanied by some incredible miracles. They would of course fall on their knees, worship Him, commit themselves to Him, etc. But over time, they drift off to their own versions of God or just abandon Him altogether and go worship someone or something else.

This pattern was repeated time and time again. Real God. False gods. Real God. False gods. It was like some cycle that they were doomed to repeat. Now the thing is, I'm finding incredible relevance between that pattern and what happens in modern American culture.

Since the time of Abraham, there's been Judao-Christian religious movement. Unfortunately, it has spawned a plethora of religions and even denominations within religions. But just as unfortunate is what they've done. A surprising number of them have ended up worshipping false gods. Seriously.

They start with the one true God who revealed Himself to Abraham. But then they add to Him or subtract from Him. What's left is not who God is. Nevertheless, it's the god they're now worshipping. So they think they're still worshipping the one true God. They don't even know that they've abandoned that God in favor of another god that they apparently find more suitable.

So how does this happen? Recently someone asked me if a Baptist could be equally yoked in a marriage to a Jehovah's Witness. Now I know the Jehovah's Witnesses are the religion that Americans like to make light of. Many of us have chuckled at a Jehovah's Witness joke ... usually about what we find to be their annoying method of door-to-door evangelism. But they say they believe in God and in Jesus. Let's consider then what it is that they believe about God and Jesus.

Jehovah's Witnesses have religious beliefs that are in many ways similar to other Protestant religions. They believe, for example, in the authority of the Bible. They trust in Jesus' death and resurrection for their salvation. But the similarities probably end there. For example, even though they believe the same things about the Bible that the rest of us believe, Jehovah's Witnesses have their own translation of it ... the "New World Translation." (I've never read it, so can't say what's different about it.)

The Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. They point to the fact that the Bible never actually uses the word Trinity. But they ignore the fact that Jesus said He is God and Jesus said the Holy Spirit is God. So this is a God who reveals Himself to us as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with distinct personal attributes - but without division of nature, essence or being. It became known as the trinity ... three in one. But the Witnesses don't accept that.

Interestingly enough, the Witnesses accept Jesus death for their salvation, but they don't believe He is God. Instead, they say He is God's "first creation" - as opposed to being the Creator. Now think about that for a minute. They are taking the definition of God as He has revealed Himself to mankind ... and they are subtracting certain aspects from it. The result is not the God who is. They end up worshipping a false god --- a god who isn't.

But let's not blame Jehovah's witnesses. They aren't alone. Islam believes that Jesus was a prophet --- and not the Messiah. Jews believe the Messiah is yet to come. They're all subtracting from the true definition of who God is. Then too we have the Catholics, who add to the definition of God. Catholics, for instance, give deity to the Virgin Mary and to dead people whom they determine post mortem to be saints. That is not who God is. So they end up worshipping a false god --- a god who isn't.

These are all monotheistic faiths who trace their origins to Abraham. But even though monotheistic faiths believe in only one god --- we can see that they are not all believing in the same god. And there are many other differences in what they believe - which end up being perversions of what's actually true. Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe that hell exists, for example. Catholics believe there's another spiritual place --- besides heaven and hell.

So the key thing here is that Jehovah's Witnesses, along with Jews, Muslims, and even Catholics refuse to accept the one true definition of who God is. Let's be clear here. God defined Himself when He revealed Himself. And He continues to do so today. So if any religion adds or subtracts from that definition ... this one true God is not who they're worshipping. They're worshipping false gods - and they don't even know it.

It would appear that history does tend to repeat itself. More importantly it appears that if modern day Christians are ignorant of the patterns of behavior that the ancient Israelites displayed in worshipping God or false gods, we are doomed to repeat their same mistakes.

So, who is the God that you're worshipping today? For you see, it isn't enough to believe in God or even worship God. It matters very much how we define him. It matters very much that we get God right.

America the Expensive

2011-03-08T03:00:00.003-06:00

There is an ugly truth here. It's a bit like the proverbial elephant in the room. That is to say it's there, it's true, everyone knows it (or should) --- but nobody is ready to talk about it. Are they afraid to talk about it? Or do they just not know how to talk about it?

New York Times' editorial writer Eduardo Porter recently published a book that he titled, "The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do." I haven't (yet) read the book. But when I first heard about it, I thought the title was very catchy. The Price of Everything. Isn't that just the question that needs to be answered?

I don't know why we pay what we do for different things. But I'm sure that Mr. Porter will be able to enlighten when I read his book. I'm just not sure that he's answering the most important question. I mean, is it more important that we know why the price of everything is ... or what the price of everything is?

As you and the rest of the world are painfully aware, the United States is struggling with federal budget deficits and a national debt that is staggering. A fascinating web site that I visit from time to time is http://www.usdebtclock.org/. It provides a running account of the debts and unfunded liabilities of the federal and state governments of the United States.

Our politicians are only just now starting to intensify the dialogue in Washington, DC about what to do. It remains to be seen whether they'll really get serious about increasing taxes, reducing spending and putting the U.S. federal government on firm financial footing again. At the state level, the various state governments are reacting in different ways. Some are slashing spending. Some are raising taxes. Most are - like the federal government - just wringing their hands without actually taking any tangible action to address the issue.

And exactly what is the issue? Quite simply it is that living in these United States is an expensive proposition. The freedoms that we celebrate? They're expensive. The security that we appreciate? It's expensive. The global leadership role? Expensive. Those civil rights? Expensive. That rich heritage? Expensive.

Do you see the correlation here? America might truly be the greatest country on earth. It may be the largest super power that the world has ever known. But it is also the most expensive country the world has ever known. Operating the U.S. government and the governments of the individual states is expensive. How expensive is it?

The math here isn't complex. We simply look at how much the government spends doing all of the things it does --- and that gives us the price of everything. In the current fiscal year, that will cost about $3.5 trillion dollars. However, the total revenue of the federal government (from taxes, fees, etc.) is only about $2.3 trillion dollars. This leaves us with a federal budget deficit of about $1.2 trillion dollars.

So think about it this way. America the beautiful is about $1.2 trillion more expensive than we thought it would be this year. So if our politicians threw away the tax code and just sent everyone a bill for their fair share of the cost to be America, each of us (every man, woman and child) would get an invoice for about $4,500 this year ... on top of the taxes that we have already paid! So nobody gets a tax refund. Everyone gets an additional tax bill of $4,500. And it's due immediately. This is how you should think about this.

The story is worse though. Because the government didn't do a "true up" and send us each an additional tax bill last year or the year before, or the year before and so on, the cumulative deficit (i.e., national debt) now adds up to more than $14.2 trillion dollars. So if our politicians threw away the tax doe and just sent everyone a bill for their fair share of the cost to be America, each of us (every man, woman and child) would get an invoice for about $47,300 this year ... on top of the taxes that we have already paid! So nobody gets a refund. Everyone gets an additional tax bill of $47,300. And it's due immediately. This is how you should think about this.

We've had presidents promise, "No new taxes!" And we've had politicians and so-called experts calling for spending reductions. But the oddest thing is that no one has just said, "Look America. Being America is an expensive proposition. What with aging baby boomers going onto Social Security, the war against terrorism, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the aging infrastructure, the program commitments that we've made to everything from national parks to the arts to single mothers to the unemployed to airline security ... it's all gotten terribly expensive. None of us knew it would be this expensive to be America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. But it is. And we have got to all knuckle under and pay for it."

Why isn't anyone having this conversation? Isn't that what sane, rational people would do? I imagine if my wife kept spending and spending and I was borrowing to pay the bills and digging ever deeper into debt --- then we'd have that conversation. I'd say something like, "Look honey, as much as I love and admire you and all that you're doing, the truth is that we cannot afford to live like we do. We can't afford to be as generous as we are. So we have two options. And the good news is, we can do both of them. But we at least have to do one of them. First, we can make more money to fund this expensive lifestyle. Second, we can stop living such an expensive life. So what will it be?"

Let's face it, this is the conversation that Americans need to be having right now. And we need to have it with both our federal and state government leaders. The likely answer is that we need to increase taxes and reduce spending. But not doing either is not an option. We are on an unsustainable road here. It is the proverbial elephant in the room. Are you ready to talk about it?

Cliff Hanging

2011-03-04T22:21:00.003-06:00

So I'm having coffee recently with a dear friend. He's a good bit older than me; quite a bit smarter than me too. Harvard graduate. University professor. Trained theologian. Ministry leader. This guy's a real pedigreed kind of guy.

We met when our kids went to the same school - and we both got sucked into the parent's association. That was years ago. Our kids don't go to the same school any more. But we've become dear friends. And our families have become close.

My friend and his wife are what you would call sold out for Jesus. They have literally re-arranged their whole lives in order to follow Jesus and His leading ways. Where has Jesus led them? They founded and run a global ministry to train pastors in central African countries (Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Rep. of Congo - to name a few).

Raising the special needs kids they've adopted and battling cancer at least twice have been part of the assignment as well. It has been a costly road for them. They've made extreme sacrifices financially and live more modestly than anyone would imagine. And they do it for the cause of Christ.

Now we're sitting in the local coffee shop getting caught up on each other's lives. Since we're so close, there's not much we don't talk about. And we get to the subject of money. We've both known some pretty difficult financial storms and have always been aware of each other's struggles in that area. When we start to examine where he's at right now, it is clear that the needs are met. The bills are paid that need to be paid. But the financial stresses in their lives are coming at them ... fast and furious.

At times, he shares, it seems overwhelming. Analogies come from both of our mouths as we try to make sense of what we think and feel in regard to our finances. Where is God taking us financially? What is God doing with our finances these days? How are we to respond to God when it comes to our finances? The questions are many.

We decide that it feels as if someone is stacking straw on the camel's back. And with each new bill (symbolized by blades of straw), we wonder if this next one will be the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back." Yet the camel plods on - acknowledging the weight on its back - but somehow finding the strength and stamina to keep moving forward.

Finally my friend says, "We are fine. But we are hanging over the cliff. It seems to be where we live nowadays." So there it was ... the perfect metaphor. And as we examined it, we both looked at each other and said at the same time, "This is precisely where God wants us!" It is where God wants His people to live ... hanging over the edge of the cliff.

What is it like out there? Well, it's unnerving, to say the least. There's no cushion, no margin. There's never any extra for anything. So it's never a question of whether we'll sacrifice or not. It's just a matter of how much sacrifice we have to make and when we have to make it. It is sobering, but not frightening.

There's a peace about God's people who live hanging over the edge of the cliff. They know, from firsthand experience, that God will show up. He is the cliff. He is the canyon below the cliff. And He is the air through which we'd fall if we ever let go of the edge of that cliff.

You see, when God's people live life on God's terms, we tend to take risks. It's like stepping out of the boat without knowing how deep the water is, what kind of creatures might be in the water, how high the waves could get, how far away the boat will be or even whether or not I know how to swim. And still I get out of the boat. To follow God.

But when God's people step out of the proverbial boat, they find the true God of the universe. They find the God that cares, that shows up, that is faithful and trustworthy. So financially, hanging over the edge of the cliff means that I don't know how much money I'll have or how much money I'll need. But I know who God is and I trust him with both my financial resources and my financial responsibilities and needs.

I'm never sure if the money will be enough. But I'm always certain that God will be enough. I don't know if I'll have enough money, but I trust that God will either provide that much money - or He'll do amazing things with the bills that arrive on my doorstep. It's what life hanging over the edge of the cliff looks like.

So today I acquired a good refresher course in geography. I was reminded that life on the edge is not only where it's at --- but it's where God is at. Quite frankly, there's no place we'd rather be.

American Challenges

2011-02-24T03:00:00.002-06:00

With all the people marching in the streets around the world, trying to get their government leaders' attention, I'm wondering if Americans ought to join in. After all, there are some things we'd like to call our government's leaders' attention to. And for the life of me, I cannot understand how the politicians that we elect in Washington, DC can wander around acting as if life is normal when we have massive threats to the sovereignty of our country looming over our heads. Call me a pessimist, but some of these things just have to be addressed. Now.

Let's start with the national debt. As of this week, it stands at $14,123,589,307,190.50. If we divide that by the approximately 300 million people that comprise the United States of America, it equates to about $47,078.63 for every man, woman and child alive today. How many people live in your household? Multiply that times this amount and you can see what your personal share of the burden is.

Of course it is the largest national debt number ever known to any state in the history of the world. But if that's not an attention getter, there are more practical aspects to this dilemma. For example, the current interest expense on this national debt is equal to about 10% of all government spending. Said differently, 10% of all the money the government spends is being used to pay interest on the national debt.

Now keep in mind that what our government spends is not equal to what you pay in taxes. So this 10% number? It's considerably more than the amount you pay in taxes. In fact, the government will spend, just this year alone, about $1.5 trillion more than it will receive in tax revenues. So just like the cartoon, we really are borrowing from our MasterCard to make the payments on our Visa card!

The U.S. faces two huge problems right now that really are linked. Our unemployment rate is hovering at about 9.4%. But once you add in those who want full time work but can find only part-time jobs, it is almost twice that (or about 18%). Job creation is not even keeping pace with the rise in population. And the budget deficit is running at almost 10% of gross domestic product (GDP). What that means is that the amount of money our government needs to borrow this year to keep the lights on is about 10% of all the money that will be made in the whole country this year.

But the first couple years of Obama's presidency, he and his administration largely focused on health care reform. Is that really the most seriously pressing issue? I don't think so. Now Obama referred to our currently dilemma (i.e., lack of innovation, lack of progress, etc.) as a "Sputnik moment." He was recalling the time back in 1957 when the U.S. realized that Russia had just out done us on the space program. So we surged forward with major investments in infrastructure, education, space exploration, etc.

And Obama wants to call our nation to do the same now ... surge forward with massive investments to ensure that America remains the leading super power globally. The only problem is that back in 1957, the U.S. government had piles of cash to spend on catching up. Now it has none. In fact, we owe everybody and can't even maintain our mediocrity without borrowing heavily from both our friends and our enemies in the world.

Perhaps the thing that disappoints me most about how our government leaders are failing us is that they are allowing Americans to continue living in denial. Just once I'd like to see a politician go on national TV and tell us that we have to pay more taxes. A lot more. These freedoms that we all hold so dear? This country that we're all convinced is the greatest on earth? It turns out they are considerably more expensive than anyone thought.

I love the United States. Perhaps it is the greatest country on earth. But frankly I can't enjoy something nearly so much if I don't own it. And Americans are fast losing our ownership of these freedoms and riches that we hold so dear. Unless we pony up and start paying a lot more taxes than we're paying now, we could lose everything that we hold so dear. It'll be foreclosed on by our creditors. Talk about a foreclosure crisis!

The first step is for Americans to get educated. It's clear (at least to me) that our government and its leaders aren't willing to tell us the truth about the situation at hand. Fortunately Peter Peterson has plowed a bunch of his wealth into a foundation that is dedicated to educating us, equipping us and calling us to action. You can check it out and join the cause at http://www.pgpf.org/.

I urge you, if you really love this country and value our freedoms, then go get the facts. Find out how expensive this way of life really is. And let's start having a national dialogue on how we're going to pay for it.

Ugandan Leadership

2011-02-21T17:47:00.010-06:00

Many people were praying for a peaceful election process in Uganda --- and today we're thanking the good Lord that those prayers have been answered. (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/110221/uganda-elections-victory-musenveni-now/) The country's elections included the naming of the President for the next five (5) year term. It was no surprise that Yoweri Museveni won that election. Again. As he has in the past. Again. And again. And again.

If you search the news wires this week you'll find no shortage of people crying foul when it comes to Uganda's elections process. Allegations that the opposition's polling agents were harassed or chased from the polls by the police, or that opposition-oriented voters were mistreated or discouraged ... or simply not given access are plentiful. In the run up prior to the elections, it was reported that the opposition was arrested for "insulting the President." At a minimum, there's fair cause for doubt in the integrity of Uganda's elections process.

Yoweri Museveni came to power by force. He wasn't elected. He overthrew the prior President in what has become known as the Uganda Bush War. That was a civil war (of sorts) and Museveni was the Commander of what he called the National Resistance Army. It has become the ruling political party in Uganda. In the course of his presidency, Museveni has allowed routine democratic elections every five years. But he also had the constitution changed to remove the two-term limit on political office ... so that he could be re-elected again and again.

If you visit with the local people in Uganda, for the most part there isn't any grumbling or complaining about the president. His picture hangs in most of the hotel lobbies that I've been in, and his motorcade is encountered from time to time on the highway. People don't seem to fear him. In their homes they'll quietly tell you that he's a dictator and that their government is full of corruption. This, of course, is a country that should know what a dictator is. Idi Amin seized power and ruled with an iron fist ... slaughtering more than 300,000 people who dared cross him or offend him. (He was subsequently overthrown himself, and died in exile.)

But for a visitor to Uganda, you might find yourself, as have I, scratching your head about this whole notion of dictatorship. People are free to come and go as they please. They are free to start businesses, own property, engage in free commerce and the arts. There are some laws that the rest of the world might consider archaic. (Most notably, homosexual behavior is punishable by life imprisonment.) But these laws don't seem to be particularly related to Museveni's presidency. More often than not he inherited those laws or the other politicians passed them without his participation.

The Uganda that I know is a beautiful country. Nestled in the hills on the Equator, it enjoys a very mild, temperate climate all year round. There's rarely a day when you would even desire air conditioning or heating in your home there. There are no freezing winters, scorching summers or parching draughts. Everything grows quite well there, giving the country some of the most impressive food security on earth. The people genuinely seem joyful. They are sincere, authentic, hospitable and despite hardships most of us have never seen, they've always got a smile and an optimistic attitude.

Economically, Uganda is growing. The national economy continues to expand at an impressive rate, year after year. Large deposits of oil have recently been discovered. Home ownership is growing. Employment is growing. Tourism is growing. Exports are growing. The country has been identified has the single African country that has done the best job in fighting the AIDS epidemic. It has made the best use of assistance from the U.S. in that regard too. By just about any measure, Uganda continues to become a better place to live, work, visit and do business with.

President Museveni and his wife have both identified themselves as born-again Christians. They once led a prayer service in the national sports arena (Nelson Mandela Stadium), where they called the country to repent of its collective sins and the sins of its ancestors. Janet Museveni, the first lady, has been considerably more open about declaring her faith in Jesus Christ. Once when I was visiting there, I heard the President make a speech at the wedding of a high ranking politician's daughter. In his speech, he alleged that marriages don't work without the supernatural power of God. And he encouraged the newlyweds to submit their marriage to the leadership of God.

Of course, some of the Ugandan people will quietly tell you that there's no evidence to validate the Museveni's claims that they're Christians. And as an outsider, I'd have to say I don't know for sure. Quite honestly, I don't know. I'm not there enough to really have an opinion one way or the other. But I'm reminded of Jesus' own words to His disciples when they questioned the faith of others. He basically said that if someone wasn't against Him then He would count them as being for Him. (Luke 9:50) Essentially Jesus was telling His disciples not to fret about whether someone was a true Christ follower or not. I wonder if that might not be His counsel to people today when it comes to President Museveni.

I'm glad the Ugandan elections ended peacefully. I'm sorry that some feel the elections weren't fair or unbiased. And I'm sorry that some people see Museveni as a dictator. But from the outside looking in, I have to tell you that he looks like a fairly benevolent dictator. I don't know if he rules fairly or not. But his leadership is making life better for all of the people in Uganda. That is obvious.

So for now, I'm thanking God for giving Uganda a stable government these past 25 years. It's the most stable their government has ever been since they obtained their freedom from England back in the 1960's. And I'm encouraging my Ugandan brothers and sisters to take another look at their circumstances, and see what it is that they may be thankful for themselves. Then let us pray for Mr. Museveni's leadership, asking God to draw him to Himself, to lead him with the Holy Spirit and to continue to use this man and his government to bless the wonderful people of Uganda.

Marriage Wisdom

2011-02-12T03:00:00.014-06:00

I write this other blog (http://www.dearvictorious.blogspot.com/) where people write me with questions. On the whole, I've been pleased to see that the questions vary widely in nature and run a complete gamut of topics. If there has been any real concentration, I'd have to say it tends to be about sex and marriage. It seems people have a lot of questions about that.

Preachers often preach about marriage in such virtuous tones. The typical sermon fodder will be about husbands loving their wives "as Christ loved the church" and even as they love their own bodies (Ephesians 5:25-33). A typical marriage sermon will also touch on wives submitting to their husbands "as they would to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:22-24).

To be perfectly honest, I don't find either of these metaphors particularly useful in our modern culture. Let's face it, not a lot of men (or women) are intimately familiar with how Christ loves the church. And similarly, not a lot of women (or men) are intimately familiar with how we are to submit ourselves to the Lord. Why would that be? How could we be ignorant of such fundamental concepts?

Let's face it, most of us haven't had good role models. When the televangelist or youth pastor "leads us to Christ," he or she never, ever makes sure we grasp the concepts of sacrificial love and submission. Yet both are absolutely fundamental to both the Christian faith and godly marriages.

The same is true for marriage ceremonies. While traditional marriage vows have tended to include the wife "obeying" the husband - many modern marriage ceremonies conveniently edit that part out or gloss over it as they go. Have you ever watched that tawdry (American) TV show, "Bridezilla?" It shows brides-to-be acting like the most ungodly, selfish, uncaring, manipulative and controlling witches ever. Can you imagine that persona submitting and obeying anyone?

I can just imagine a marriage ceremony. "Do you, prospective husband, promise, commit and vow in front of God and man to love your wife sacrificially ... even to death if necessary?" "Do you, prospective wife, promise, commit and vow in front of God and mankind to love your husband, submitting to and obeying him in all things as you would to the Lord?"

If I were preaching that wedding, I'd probably want to add in some further questioning. "Do you, prospective husband, know what sacrificial love is? Have you really evaluated it and do you really know what you're committing to here?" "Do you, prospective wife, have any idea what submission and obedience really look like? Are you fully aware of the dynamics of such behaviors on your part?" "Have either one of you ever loved anyone sacrificially or submitted to and obeyed someone unconditionally?"

So what's my point here? The point is that most couples enter and live in marriages without fully understanding, much less acknowledging, the requirements of a godly marriage. I've done a far bit of marriage counseling in my day. And I am always dismayed with the couples who start off a counseling session by telling how their marriage doesn't work. Or they'll talk about the lack of credentials of their spouse.

There's never comprehension of these two fundamental marriage dynamics - given to us straight from God's Word. Why would that be? Is it that churches don't teach it? Is it that Christians don't model it?

Sexuality is another important topic, both inside and outside of marriage. Both married and single people want to talk about it. For most, it is an area of extreme pain and frustration - for a whole host of reasons. Here again, the contemporary church has Scripture references that are heavily leaned upon. They start with the exclusivity of our sexuality (Matthew 19:3-6, Genesis 1:27 & 2:24).

Some preachers will boldly march forth into the book of Solomon (aka the Song of Solomon). Here we find graphic references to sexuality that might otherwise be found in modern pornographic material. But the pastors cling to it as evidence that God intends for us to be sexy. They'll explain that God appreciates the value of a good "romp in the hay." But I'm not sure that's the right context to be speaking from -- or the right vision to be casting.

King Solomon, who wrote this graphically sexy book, was a noteworthy leader. The son of King David (whom God referred to as "a man after my own heart"), Solomon went on to build the temple. He also was astute enough to ask God for wisdom above all else ... and of course became very wise indeed. God's Word tells us he was the "wisest man who ever lived" (2 Chronicles 1:11-12). Indeed, Solomon wrote many Proverbs, among other things. His writings are testament to his rich wisdom.

But is wisdom the right place to go for the model of sensuality? Solomon may have been a wise man, but he was certainly not the most virtuous. While the Bible recounts many of his accomplishments, it also records his failures. Ultimately his sin - including the sin of idolatry and turning away from God - led to the ruination of his kingdom. So it would seem that the wisest man who ever lived was also one of the more sinful men the world has ever known. Did you know that?

Sexuality, upon close examination, was definitely one of the weakest aspects of Solomon's character. So while the Song of Solomon records in great detail the sensuality of his sexuality ... it tends to leave out some pretty relevant details. Take for example, the fact that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. By his own account then, Solomon had at least 1,000 sexual partners in his lifetime. How many have you had?

Oddly enough, Solomon, for all his wisdom, failed to put many boundaries on his sexual cavorting. Simply put, his wives and concubines included a substantial number of women of ill repute. Some of Solomon's sex partners (or wives) were actually heathens who neither shared his values or acknowledge his God. A case could be made, based on Scriptural accounts, that some of these women actually led Solomon away from God. Said differently, they enticed him to sin.

So the point here is that Solomon may have had wisdom beyond his years or even beyond his humanness (i.e., divine wisdom). But what he had in wisdom probably rivaled what he lacked in virtue. He was not a good and decent man. It is therefore ironic that modern-day preachers would turn to the Song of Solomon for model of sensuality in the context of God-honoring relationships.

So if the world wants to know more about marriage and sexuality, and Ephesians or Solomon aren't the models --- where do Christians go for effective teaching? Oh, I'm so glad you asked! For starters, they go beyond the obvious. Christians begin to look at marriage and sexuality through the perspective of Jesus Christ.

If Jesus had married, what kind of sex life do you suppose He would have had? Seriously. We purchase those "WWJD?" (What Would Jesus Do) bumper stickers for our cars. What would Jesus do ... in the bedroom? Isn't that really the question we all want to have answered? Isn't it the question we all should really be asking?

For starters, let's look at what Jesus called the two most important Commandments (Matthew 22:37-40). They form the basis for the most important dynamics in a God-honoring marriage.

He said we are to love God above all else. Did you catch that part? How many of our culture's love songs put God first? Yet God says He is to come first. That's before infatuation. That's before hearts that flutter when our mate walks into the room.

And He said we are to love others as we would like to be loved ourselves. Think about that. How would you like to be loved? If you look fat in that outfit, wouldn't you want to know it? Would you feel special if others made sacrifices to express their love for you? Do you like to be on the winning end of compromises?

So just this one Scripture reference gives us bold context for a successful marriage. That context is that I have to come third in this marriage. God comes first. Then my spouse. Then me. Notice the children and the in-laws aren't in this pecking order (yet).

Often Christian counselors will draw a marriage "triangle," which depicts the husband and wife in the bottom corners, and God as the pinnacle or top corner of the triangle. They'll tell you that's what successful marriages look like. I think they're right too. It's been my own experience (by virtue of my own marriage), by working with other married couples, and being a student of marriage, that this so-called relationship "triangle" is not only true, but it's effective.

Over the years, I've developed a list of Marriage Truths that I believe bear repeating here.

1. Your marriage will never truly work unless God is first in each of our respective lives. No exceptions.

2. Marriage requires an extraordinary amount of compromise. You'll find the level and depth of compromise to be more complex than any you've ever experienced in the past.

3. Partners in successful marriages make extreme sacrifices, not only for the good of the marriage ... but for the best of the their spouse.

4. Uncompromising loyalty is always required in a marriage. It means there is always the preference in favor of your spouse, no matter who the competition is.

5. God's amazing grace must be modeled in your marriage. This means that you intend to forgive everything --- before you even know whether or not your partner is sorry or whether they are at fault. You always lead with forgiveness.

6. If you have a successful marriage, you will at times find yourself in situations that seem to smack of persecution. And like Christ did when He was persecuted, you must not try to defend yourself. Rather trust God to lead you through the persecution.

7. Marriages are often like sailing ships, with storms to go through, shallow waters to go through, deep waters to cross, etc. But they don't have the option to stop and get off the ocean. Rather they must keep on sailing, no matter what.

8. Your marriage will inevitably bring you to a "crisis of belief." Your beliefs about God, yourself, your spouse and your marriage will all be heavily tested. And only the strongest survive.

9. Selfishness and self-centeredness must be executed if the marriage is going to work and honor God. Unfortunately they are where most marriages start. People tend to consider their marriage prospects in terms of what's in it for them. That thinking error will need to get corrected before the marriage can thrive. When you get to the place where you can commit to the marriage and remain committed without thought of what's in it for you --- then you know you're ready for marriage.

10. Most of the world's wisdom on marriage is useless. Only God can define successful relationships of any kind. So successfully married people learn to stop listening to the wrong voices and to focus on listening to the right voices.

To conclude, I'd like you to forget what you heard at the last wedding you attended or read on the last greeting card you bought. Those are not marriage wisdom. I'd like you to turn past King Solomon and the Apostle Paul for your marriage advice. Instead, take a serious look at Christ. And ask yourself, "What would Jesus do?" For therein lies the secret to a successful marriage and a fulfilling dimension of sexuality in your marriage.

Who Is More Liberated?

2011-02-09T03:00:00.002-06:00

The following is a re-post of an article I wrote recently for Changing the Face of Christianity. It was published on their web site at http://www.changingthefaceofchristianity.com/uncategorized/whos-more-liberated-the-christian-or-the-non-believer/. It examines the freedom of devoted Christ-followers versus everyone else (including atheists, agnostics, etc.).

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Who’s more liberated: the Christian or the non-believer?

I’ve been asked to write this article about who’s more liberated – Christians or non-believers. For the sake of this writing, let’s define the Christians as true Christ-followers and the non-believers as everyone else (including those who think they follow Christ).

Now the question is who is more liberated. The word is defined, on http://www/dictionary.com/ in these ways:

· to set free, a from imprisonment or bondage

· to free from control by a foreign or oppressive governing body

· to free from social or economic constraints or discrimination

So we have this word … liberated. On it seems to hang the balance of the Christian faith versus all other forms of faith or even the absence of faith. Many of us who are Christ-followers could give testimonies of being freed from an imprisoning bondage.

To be perfectly honest, I’m not exactly thrilled with this assignment. Writing an essay in favor of Christianity that centers on the notion of liberation feels like a no-win situation.

By that I mean that liberation is a relative term for just about all of us.

History of U.S. Slavery

The United States of America has an ugly history of slavery that revolves around the black Africans. They were slaves in the U.S. and went through a valiant battle for their freedom. But when they got it, things didn’t quite go as they --- or anyone else expected.

History tells how (Abraham) Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_proclamation) to start the process of eventually freeing all of the slaves in the country. When he first signed it, many of them didn’t automatically begin to live free. There were a variety of reasons for this.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the slaves who didn’t want to be free. They had masters (i.e. slave owners) whom they saw as decent and reasonable. They figured they had a pretty good life as slaves … and they weren’t willing to trade it for an unknown life of freedom. So they continued as voluntary slaves.

But the majority of slaves who didn’t live free when they were legally free had much more tragic stories. In some cases, the slave owners didn’t want them to know they were free. So they hid the truth from them, and blocked the slaves from having any knowledge that they were free. In other cases, there were slaves who knew they were free … but their masters (i.e., owners) lied to them and told them they were still slaves.

In some instances, slaves found out they were free and tried to live free. But their former masters (i.e., owners) would coerce them into continuing to live as slaves. Usually this would happen when they tried to leave the plantation where they had been enslaved. The former master (i.e., owner) would chase after them. When he caught them, they were beaten and dragged back to the plantation to continue living as slaves.

Now whose story would you consider to be more tragic? The slaves who knew they were free, but had benevolent masters and voluntarily surrendered their freedom? Or the slaves who continued to live as slaves because of their own ignorance or because of oppression? Most of us, if we’re truthful, would probably agree that the slave who had a benevolent master and wished to continue serving him might have had the happiest ending here.

Human Slavery vs. Liberty

The point is that just because the world (and the law) defined them as free didn’t mean that all of America’s slaves actually lived any differently. It took something else. They each had to claim their freedom. They each had to access and appropriate their freedom. Sometimes that took a fight. It often took courage. They were plunging into a life of unknown outcomes. Few, if any, black Africans had ever lived free in American society. Nobody knew how that would look or how it might turn out.

There are some very strong similarities in this story and the modern concept of liberty. I have worked for years in a recovery ministry (http://www.celebraterecovery.com/). It operates on many of the principles of secular twelve-step programs, but uses Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) as the basis for its core tenets. Its objective is to free people from the bondage of addictions, compulsive behaviors and other hurts, habits and hang-ups that keep us from living the lives that God intended.

Inevitably, the people who participate in that recovery ministry have stories that are uniquely characteristic of the American slavery experience from the 1800’s. At first, they believe they are free. As adults they can make supposedly free choices to do things like abuse alcohol or use pornography. At the beginning of their relationship with these vices, they believed that being able to choose to do these things was a right or freedom that they were simply exercising. But in the end – when they sought help from a recovery ministry – most have no trouble admitting that the vice which they thought represented freedom and liberty had indeed enslaved them.

As I’ve worked in this program, I’ve been able to make a rather odd observation. It occurs when the participant starts to walk in true freedom. Invariably, they will come upon a major milestone in life, such as Christmas. And as they do, they will make a comment that goes something like this: “I’m a bit nervous about Christmas this year. It’s the first year I can remember where I was sober. The truth is, I don’t know how to do Christmas sober. So I’m afraid. What will Christmas be like?”

What they’re really saying of course is that they don’t know how to do Christmas free. They don’t know how truly liberated people live at Christmas or how they celebrate Christmas. It’s a whole new paradigm for these people. And it goes without saying that you could plug any holiday or milestone, Easter, wedding, anniversary, family reunion, etc. into that sentence and get the same effect. People don’t know how to do life free.

Freedom & Liberation

I suspect the same may be true of Christianity. There may be people who are trapped in bondage. They may be aware of the Lord. And they may believe that He exists. But they don’t really know Him. And because they are ignorant of what His freedom looks like, they are willing to settle for what they have. They aren’t particularly interested in knowing how others live.

To these people, liberation is an intimidating proposition … that they aren’t so willing to embrace. They know how to live with what they’ve got. They’ve developed coping mechanisms that, in their opinion, work. And because they don’t know how anything else works --- they fear the unknown. Moreover, they are unwilling to walk into that unknown. What if the Lord doesn’t meet me there? What if I don’t know how to act? What if I can’t handle it? Their minds are filled with those “What if …?” statements.

The real issue for most people in bondage then is what freedom looks like. How do truly liberated people really live? Most of us would agree that people who are truly free in life probably live lives that aren’t encumbered by some of the boundaries that the rest of us must live with.

Rich people, for example, aren’t bound by the need to work. They aren’t bound by insufficient funds to satisfy whatever whim may strike them. Go anywhere. Buy anything. Do anything. That is our perception of what freedom looks like.

But ask people who live that kind of life. More often than not, they’ll tell you that wealth is a burden. They’ll tell you that it taints their relationships. Maybe they’re afraid to get too close to people, for example, out of fear that those people are only after their money (versus their friendship). Maybe they find themselves arguing about money – or being afraid to lose it (because they don’t know how to be poor).

I counseled a man once, who sat in my office at the church and sobbed about what an immense burden his wealth was. He hated the mansion and saw it as a prison. He loathed riding in the limousine – and yearned for the ability to just drive around town by himself. He believed that his immense wealth had ruined his kids’ lives.

So the point here is that the concept of being free, or being liberated, tends to be both subjective and abstract. By that I mean that the truth of worldly freedom tends to be relative … it is designed by its circumstances. At the same time, the world’s definition of freedom is so abstract that few can really comprehend or grasp it.

Defining Freedom

The book of John in the New Testament is a wonderful book of truth. It is the story of Jesus’ life and Jesus’ message, as told from John’s perspective. In John 8:31-47, we see a story of Jesus getting into what amounts to an argument. And as arguments go, this one is most odd. Jesus is arguing with a group of Jews (God’s chosen people) who actually believe that Christ is who He says He is, and who actually want to listen to Him and hear what He has to day.

The point of disagreement arises however, when Jesus talks to them about who they are really the children of. In a nutshell, they see themselves has having a human ancestry – and rather pedigreed one at that. Jesus, on the other hand, sees them as slaves. He believes they lack basic liberties. Despite their claims, their so-called facts and their beliefs, Jesus doesn’t agree that they are liberated people.

So how did Jesus see this bondage … or this slavery? He saw it as deception. In fact, it is here that we learn of one of the enemy’s (Satan) most basic forms of enslavement. It is here that we learn one of Satan’s most effective tools is to make people think they are free, when in fact they are slaves. They are in bondage to the vices of the world that they thought they were free to pursue. They’ve been deceived into believing that getting what you want when you want it is what freedom is. So if they get what they want when they want it, they conclude that they must be free indeed.

But Jesus defines freedom quite differently from the world’s standards. He says that our entire purpose in life is to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all of your mind.” (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, & Luke 10:27) Similarly, we are to, “Love others as we would like to be loved.” (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 5:43, 19:19, 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, and James 2:8).

Did you catch that? It’s the most important paragraph in this article. We were created. And the Creator defined our purpose. As such, He also defined our freedom. He defined our liberation.

Have you ever created anything? Perhaps you bake bread, or build furniture or sew. Whatever it is you create … consider how it functions. If you baked bread, for example, would it be just as good serving as a door stop? Or if you sew a dress, would it be just as good functioning as a mop? Of course not. Each of the things created is at its best when it serves the purpose for which it was created. Even a birthday cake, for example, would struggle to function as a wedding dress – or vice versa. So the thing is that the Creator defines the purpose of the created. And in doing so, the Creator creates the definition of freedom or liberty for the created.

True Freedom

Mankind was created by God. And our sole purpose is to serve God. We do that in two ways. First, we love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind. We devote everything to Him and live with Him as our clearest focus and highest priority. Secondly, we love others. And we love them in the same way that He loves us. We love others the way we would ourselves like to be loved. This is the sole purpose of mankind on this earth. As such, it is the sole definition of freedom or liberty for mankind.

The problem comes into play when we are deceived. Or it occurs when we are simply ignorant. We are deceived about our purpose. Or we are ignorant of our purpose. And this deception? This ignorance? They are the work of the devil. They are the product of the fallen world around us.

Christians, however, are not to participate in the world’s values and its definitions. (Romans 12:2)

Rather our true identity lies in our citizenship outside of this world. (Philippians 3:20) We are aliens on this planet earth. God created mankind in His own image. (Genesis 1:27). Therefore we are first spiritual beings, on assignment to have a human experience here on earth. But we live as foreigners, aliens in this world. We are called to rise above the world’s ways – not embracing or even co-habitating with them.

Conclusion

I started this article by asking the question, “Who is more liberated … the Christian or the non-believer.” The answer to that question is undeniably the Christian. When we grasp the true definition of what it means to be liberated … free and content, we understand that it means to live one’s own purpose. And the only people on earth who can do that are the people who surrender their lives and submit themselves to God.

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) Being the obstinate character that I am, I can confess to having tested that. And through my own experiential learning, I’ve come to understand that there is no truth apart from Jesus Christ. Said differently, truth gets its character from Christ. He is the source of what is known as absolute truth.

So being that Jesus is God and Jesus is truth, then Jesus is the only one capable of producing a true definition of freedom. He’s followed in His Father’s footsteps, and defined freedom as living our purpose … in serving Him and loving others as He would love them Himself.

So who is more liberated? The Christian or the non-believer? I said before that it is clearly the Christian. The closest that anyone will ever get to freedom outside of Christ is deception. That is to say they will be deceived about what freedom or liberty are. And they will be deceived about whether or not they posses this counterfeit version of freedom. Make no mistake: the non-believer walks in total darkness --- and in immense bondage. Whether they know it or not or whether they believe it or not, they are not free. Only Jesus can set them free.

Who Am I?

2011-02-04T17:20:00.013-06:00

Have you ever considered what your individual role in the Kingdom of God might actually turn out to be? I know none of us can ever be certain about such things. Still, my mind often wonders about my role.

Usually such wondering occurs during those periods in my life when my humanity seems to overwhelm my spirituality. In other words, it occurs when I'm not feeling so confident about who I am and what I'm doing. I suspect that others aren't always so confident that they know who I am and what I'm doing either!

I was reading the other day the story of Elijah and the widow (1 Kings 17). God had called the prophet Elijah out into the wilderness and had the ravens feed him. Now God was moving him to a village and would use a widow to feed him. Elijah found the widow and moved in with her. She did what he told her to do and the food never ran out. She would feed Elijah, her son, and herself. And miraculously she never ran out of food. (Truly it was miraculous!)

Then her son got sick and died. Elijah took the dead child away and privately prayed over and even laid on top of the boy. And answering Elijah's prayer, God returned life to the child. Upon learning that Elijah had indeed raised her child from the dead, the widow said to Elijah, "Now I know for sure that you are a man of God and that the Lord truly speaks through you."

The Lord has never, to my knowledge, involved me in any of those food miracles where people keep eating and eating and the food never runs out. And I don't know that God will ever use me to raise someone from the dead. (Although if He did, I certainly wouldn't mind!) But I have to confess that one of the strongest desires I can ever remember having is to truly be a man of God whom the Lord truly speaks through.

When I was a young man, I had strong desires and fantasies, really. They were to be cool and popular. They were to be rich and powerful. I wanted to have stuff. I wanted to be admired by others. I wanted to make a big difference. Later, as I began to own my brokenness, I wanted to be forgiven. I wanted to repent. As I began to mature in Christ, I wanted to be transformed by the renewing of my mind.

And today, I want to be a man of God through whom God speaks. Frankly, that yearning surprises me. I'm not sure where it comes from. But I'm certain that it's there. This unmistakable desire brews within me. And I wonder why. What exactly is a "man of God?" Isn't that just a man of whom God approves? Or is it something deeper? And through what kind of men does God speak?

I learned some time ago that I had foolishly spent much of my youth and adulthood focused on what I would do or what I would have. But it turned out that it is considerably more important to focus on who I would be. So this paradigm shift occurred and changed how I think about things. Fortunately, my desires have changed. I find myself centered squarely on being instead of doing or having.

So whom can I be? Of all the definitions ascribed to being, I find the definition "man of God" to be the most attractive. As I paint a picture in my mind, he is a virtuous man. He is a humble man. He is a man after God's own heart - learns from his mistakes and repents of his sins. He isn't afraid to dance and sing before the Lord. At times he can be a bit brave too ... stepping out in faith when others would call him foolish.

Now maybe I'm full of myself. Or maybe I'm a little bit out of touch with reality. But when I speak, I often times have the impression and understanding that I'm speaking for the Lord. By that I mean that His words are running through me. What's coming out of my mouth are not my words. They have to be His. Why? Because I'm not smart enough to think those words up on my own!

But what kinds of words do that ... come out of your mouth through some kind of divine appointment? Words of encouragement. Words of exhortation. Even words of rebuke. So it gets to be that I'm not encouraging, exhorting or rebuking. But rather the Lord is doing those things through me. I feel sometimes as if I'm just sitting on the sidelines watching this go on. Often it's a pretty good show too!

As I write this today, I find my eyes welling up with tears. I consider the power of those words that the Lord puts in me and draws out of me, and it humbles me. It is at these points when I know without a doubt that there is God and that He is everything the Bible says He is. It is a good place to be. The further I got in my own spiritual journey, I find there is nothing I yearn for more than to submit myself humbly before the Lord. To be owned and used by this God provides the greatest compensation of any role I've ever played. Frankly, it's way better than having or doing --- which is what I always thought would be the ideal.

This past week I was talking to Pastor J. Don George of Calvary Church in Irving, Texas (http://calvarychurch.cc/our_founding_pastor.php). I used to work for him and learned several things about healthy churches there. Anyway, he'd recently visited with Maude Aimee Humbard. For those of you who don't know her, she is the widow of Rex Humbard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Humbard) - a popular evangelist of my parents' time. Anyway, Pastor George mentioned his visit with Mrs. Humbard and my mind immediately flashed back to something.

When I was in my early teens, I attended a service at Humbard's church, and his wife sang a song. I got a cassette tape of that song and played it over and over again. In fact, my family went camping and I would take that tape with me, listening to it as we drove, before I slept, or just about any other time. I would hear it at least a dozen times a day. Don't ask me why, but I found it to be captivating and almost magnetic and listened to it intently for several months.

Now I hadn't thought about Mrs. Humbard or that song in decades. But when Pastor George mentioned Mrs. Humbard's name, that song, its lyrics and music came flooding back to fill my mind.

What kind of song would do such a thing? It's called "More About Jesus," by Eliza E. Hewitt (music by John R. Sweney). If you'd like to hear it, go to http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/o/morabout.htm.

Consider these lyrics that somehow captured a 14 year old boy's heart many years ago:

More About Jesus
More about Jesus would I know,
More of His grace to others show;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love Who died for me.

More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love Who died for me.

More about Jesus let me learn,
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my teacher be,
Show the things of Christ to me.

(Chorus)

More about Jesus; in His Word,
Holding communion with my Lord;
Hearing His voice in every line,
Making each faithful saying mine.

(Chorus)

More about Jesus; on His throne,
Riches in glory all His own;
More of His kingdom's sure increase;
More of His coming, Prince of Peace.

(Chorus)

I'm looking at these words today and I am frankly stunned that they could have had such a profound pull on a teen-aged heart. Let's be honest here, I wasn't that spiritual as a teen-ager. But today, these words that were planted in my soul have become nothing less than the true cry of my heart. There is nothing in life that I could want more ... than more about and more of Jesus.

Is that the definition of a "man of God?" Is that the thing that the widow saw in Elijah ... a man so firmly connected to God that the miracles and words of God flowed through Him?

You know, I often don't feel as if I'm good enough for my own aspirations. Sometimes, as I said, my humanity - and its sinful nature - overwhelms my spirituality. But I can't deny the truth that God has my heart. You've maybe heard it said that someone "has your back." Well it's even better when the King of the universe has your heart. For it is then that you are truly a man (or woman) of God. And it is then that this amazing God can really speak through you.

Adoption Realities

2011-01-26T03:00:00.003-06:00

If you’ve read my blogging for any length of time, you’re probably aware that I’m a proponent of adoption. Parenting and loving children whom you did not give birth to is not a new concept. It’s been around for centuries. But in modern times, some truths have emerged that aren’t so pretty. I can see these truths. There’s evidence of these truths that would back up my observations. And yet, I’ve never seen anyone write about them or address. Not even Oprah seems to have picked up on these ugly truths about modern adoption.

So what’s the deal? What controversies am I about to ignite today? Bear with me here. I think I have some points worth making. Let’s examine what I can observe.

The first thing I notice is that despite all of our progressive, civilized thinking, there are more children in the world today without parents than there’ve ever been. Estimates by international charities and governments put the number of orphans, for example, as somewhere north of 30 million. Imagine, more than 30 million children are growing up without parents. It’s a staggering number. Sadly, it’s a growing number too. The world’s population of orphans may be one of the fastest growing segments of mankind.

The second thing I notice is that more people are spending more money, waiting longer and working harder than ever before to become adoptive parents. It sort of doesn’t make sense. You’d think the theory y of supply-and-demand would kick in here … and that the proliferation of orphans would drive down the cost of adopting them. But that would assume the adoptive parents are genuinely interested in the orphans and have their best interests at heart. They often times don’t.

A lot of the money spent on adoption today is spent because the adoptive parents are selfish. The adoption is all about them --- and not about the child they’ll get. Few people who spend money adopting a child are driven because the Lord moved in their hearts toward the child. Instead, they see themselves as parents, and decide (for a variety of reasons) to fulfill that identity with adoption. Now that I’ve decided to become a parent, it’s just a matter of deciding which child to adopt, from where, how much it’ll cost and how long it’ll take.

This is not unlike the woman in the news recently, who decided she would marry on a certain date next year. She’s gone about planning the wedding, purchasing all she’ll need and engaging everyone she wants to make it her special day. Her final objective now is to find the husband who will meet her requirements in her decision to become a wife. It sounds crazy doesn’t it? It’s been in the news and people are talking about it because it’s unconventional, a bit outrageous, and more than a little self-centered and piggish of this bride-to-be. It also shares several things in common with many of the people who decide to become adoptive parents.

I talked with someone recently who told me, “If I’m not married by the time I’m 35, then I plan to just adopt a kid.” In a similar conversation a few months ago, someone was trying to conceive a child – to no avail. When I suggested adoption, they responded, “Oh, we may consider that. But we’d want to try and have our own child first. If we can’t do that then we’ll adopt.” In yet another conversation about a year ago, I was talking to someone who has adopted internationally several times, and they were explaining how expensive it has been. When I questioned the need for such expense, the woman answered, “Oh it’s been expensive, but it has totally been worth it because we’ve been able to select just the right children to build the family we wanted.”

These are not moronic people. They’re not evil people either. But they consider such statements to be totally plausible. And yet they fail to see the giant label of selfishness that’s stamped all over these perspectives. Their adoptions of orphans are all about them. The actual child is inconsequential to their overall strategy. Just like the ambitious bride who plans her marriage and then shops for prospective husbands – these people plan their parenthood and then shop for prospective children. I imagine some of these adoption agencies feel a bit like order takers sometimes. “Tell me what kind of child you want, how much you’re willing to pay – and I’ll see what I can find that meets your requirements.”

I know, you’re going to tell me that my perspective is overly cynical and mean-spirited. But you won’t be able to convince me that I’m wrong. These adoption efforts have selfishness stamped all over them. Call me a cynic, but I believe adoption should be about the child. “Are there any unwanted, unloved children out there? Let me be the one to stand in the gap and love on them. Come here my little one. I will love you. I will lead you. I will nurture you.” Such a driving force would not likely find an abundant supply of perfect Caucasian infants (which is what most adoptive parents are seeking these days).

The third thing I notice is that most people are ignorant about the plight of children today. They don’t know, for example that there are more than 30 million orphans – most of whom will never be adopted by anybody. They don’t know that in the U.S. there are thousands upon thousands of children in foster care mostly because they had inappropriate parents. They’re available for adoption. Most states even offer financial assistance to the adoptive parents. But they are often of mixed race, physically and/or mentally handicapped, in sibling groups, have health issues and probably are emotionally ill. And no one will take them, love them, lead them, nurture them and raise them. They will be “wards of the state” until they reach chronological age of adulthood – at which point they will be sent out into society to fend for themselves. States don’t care for parentless adults. They don’t send them to college. They don’t help them find their first job. How many people know that? Do you suppose if they did they would continue to spend tens of thousands of dollars seeking perfect white infants from abroad?

The fourth thing that I know about adoption is that it can be incredibly challenging. Even perfect white infants from Russia or China (or whatever country is in favor at the moment) will come with emotional baggage. They didn’t get nurtured at their mother’s breast. They didn’t have that skin-on-skin contact that is so vital in infancy to a child’s ability to bond and trust and relate. So adoptive parents should expect to spend thousands on therapy, special schooling and maybe even family counseling. Raising adopted children has its challenges. And some of them can be severe. It’s not for the faint of heart.

Several years ago there was a riveting movie called, Mommie Dearest. It was the story of Hollywood actress Joan Crawford and her mothering of her four adopted children. As the story goes, Joan wanted to be a mother, so she went and got the children she needed to meet that requirement. Unfortunately, her children were dynamic. They were complex. They had feelings, and demands. They could be rebellious. They could be inconvenient. They required sacrifices. And as the story played out, we saw that several of these things had apparently not been in Joan’s plans for motherhood. I suspect they’re not in the plans that lots of people have for parenthood.

So what’s the point? Why am I blogging today about this? Well, believe it or not, I’m not trying to bash adoptive parents. Any child that gets adopted and becomes loved and cared for is a good thing – regardless of the motive behind the adoption. But frankly, I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere with these millions of orphans unless our motives change.

Could we have a noble belief – such as the notion that we could eliminate orphans? We hold fast to the ideal that we can, for example, eradicate poverty. Could we hold a similar ideal for the plight of unloved, unwanted, and uncared for children in the world?

The situation won’t improve until the hearts of capable adults are broken for these children. It is my prayer that at least 30 million hearts would be broken for today’s parentless children. They’re in foster care. They’re in orphanages. They’re on the streets, fending for themselves. They’re trapped in sexual slavery (literally thousands of them). Many of them have been abused physically, sexually or emotionally. Most of them have suffered extreme neglect. They want for basic needs like nutrition, health care and education.

Can our self-centered hearts turn from the ideal of using the orphans to fill the orders that our idyllic lives require? Can our hearts be broken for these children? Will we step out in faith and in sacrifice on their behalf? That is my prayer. It is my great hope.

So tell me, do you have room in your heart for any more of God’s children today? How many empty beds are in your home right now? Can you honestly look at 30 million children whom nobody wants and nobody loves --- and tell me that God “hasn’t called you” to do anything about that?

Jobless Economic Recovery?

2011-01-23T11:57:00.018-06:00

You can hardly open a newspaper or business magazine these days without finding at least one article that talks about the economy. Specifically they're reporting that the economic recession is over. Apparently it ended several months ago - and no one noticed. That goodness we have those economists around to tell us these things!

But there's a twist to this alleged economic recovery. It seems to be jobless. That is to say that it is not producing jobs. Historically, when an economic recovery is under way in the U.S., people start finding jobs. In fact, that's been the case in virtually every economic recovery the U.S. has experienced ... until now. Unemployment remains high. There isn't a lot of hiring going on. Many of the people who are unemployed have been so for a very long time. And many of the people who have found jobs are underemployed - which means they are way more qualified than the work they're doing.

Now the so-called experts are talking to us about why this particular recovery is so peculiar. They go off on some kind of rhetorical dialogue about how the structure of the economy has changed, how globalization has changed the dynamics of economic recovery, etc. Some tell us that the jobs are simply lagging the rest of the economy ... and there'll be strong hiring in the future. Others say that the jobs that were lost aren't coming back. Instead they'll have to be replaced with new jobs that the market has never had before. (But so far, there's nothing on the horizon that would indicate where those new professions might come from.)

One of the things I find the most curious about this economic recovery is that corporations in America are reporting record profits. Seriously, many of them are reporting profits the likes of which the world has never seen. And many of the biggest companies are sitting on the largest stock piles of cash the corporate world has ever seen. They're simply taking profits and piling them up. They're not using these record profits to invest in new business or expansion of any sort. They're not using it to hire more people. They're not paying dividends to their investors. In fact, these companies with record profits are not doing anything with this money. It's literally piling up by the billions of dollars.

But let's take a look at one place where all that corporate cash is being spent --- compensation for the top executives in the firms. We have seen the compensation for top executives soar into the stratosphere. Even guys who do a poor job and get fired can leave with severance pay in the tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. Truly they are the richest people in the world. And for the most part, they didn't invent or build anything. I mean to say that there's a difference between someone like Bill Gates (Microsoft) or Steve Jobs (Apple Computer) or Michael Dell (Dell Computer). They were innovators, risk takers and their genius paid off. But that's not the typical scene in the executive suite at most of America's largest companies today.

The gap between CEO compensation and a typical worker's pay has widened exponentially over the last several years. According to the Economic Policy Institute (http://www.epi.org/), in 1965, U.S. CEOs in major companies earned about 24 times more than a typical worker. By 2007, they make 275 times more. The EPI further documents the fact that CEOs in the U.S. make far more than CEOs in other advanced countries around the world.

So what's going on here? Millions of people are jobless - but corporations are piling up cash like never before. And the top executives in these companies are being paid like never before and like nowhere else. How are they doing it?

Talk to any major corporation in America today and chances are you'll hear about their "offshore" or "best shore"' strategy. (At least they think it's a strategy.) They're laying off American workers and sending those jobs overseas. Typically manufacturing goes to China and technology or service jobs go to India (although several other third world countries are in the mix). So, for example, we lay off a software analyst in Des Moines, Iowa that was making about $50,000 per year (and the company typically spent another 22% of that on benefits). The replacement worker in Bangalore? They're making an average of $5,000 per year - which is actually less than unemployment in the U.S. would pay.

How big is this problem? Here are some statistics, courtesy of the AFL-CIO (http://www.aflcio.org/):

More than 3 million manufacturing jobs in the U.S. were lost since 1998

More than 600,000 professional services jobs in the U.S. were lose in recent years

Between 2000 and 2003, more than 372,000 service jobs in the U.S. were lost. 104,000 of them in the information technology industry.

Forrester Research predicts U.S. employers will move 3.4 million white-collar jobs overseas by 2015.

The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray and Christmas estimates the number of service-sector jobs moving overseas each year hit 588,000 back in 2005 - and has been climbing ever since.

A University of California at Berkeley report found 14 million U.S. jobs at risk of being sent offshore - and predicts that the actual job losses will exceed the Forrester Research prediction.

A Deloitte Research survey found that the world's 100 largest financial services firms (mostly banks) shifted more than $356 billion worth of operations and about 2 million jobs to low-wage countries.

Another Deloitte Research survey found that 275,000 telecom jobs (mostly phone operators) were sent offshore by 2008.

Naturally, when jobs are sent offshore, the people who lost those jobs become "wards of the state." That means they live on unemployment and other government benefits. Many of them will supplement that with savings, but ultimately the American taxpayer will fund their struggle to reinvent themselves in other jobs. It will not be the huge companies with the enormous piles of cash and the well paid executives to foot the bill for these unemployed.

Statistically, the American middle class is shrinking. More middle class Americans are slipping into poverty. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/), 14.3% of Americans lived in poverty in 2009. That was up from 13.2% in 2008. The Census Bureau says 43.6 million Americans are officially poor.

In reality, the true number of poor people may be even higher. The government's method for measuring poverty hasn't changed since 1963 and doesn't take into account soaring costs for medical care, energy, etc. Additionally, the wealth that has been created over the last 25 years by increases in productivity hasn't trickled down at all. Wages stagnated or even declined during those same 25 years. Another way to think about that is to consider that about 80% of the increase in total U.S. income went to the top 1% of Americans during those same 25 years.

And that helps explain why America has never had so many millionaires. According to CNN (http://www.money.cnn.com/) U.S. households worth $1 million or more grew to 7.8 million. That was an increase of 16% from the prior year. The number of ulra-net-worth households, worth $5 million or more, grew to 980,000 - an increase of 17% over the prior year.

So if you've read my blogs for any length of time, you know that I find a Biblical perspective for just about any situation mankind can encounter. Truly, I believe the Bible is replete with wisdom for everyone and everything ... at all times. So James, Jesus' half brother, wrote a five-chapter book in the New Testament that is rich with exhortation. He minces no words in telling believers how to live godly lives.

"Now listen, you rich people ... You have hoarded wealth ... Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who (did your work) are crying out against you ... You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence." (James 5:1-5)

And what does James have to say about this situation? "... The cries of the (workers) have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty." (James 5:4)

What James is saying is that the rich people are sinning. They're getting rich off the backs of the workers who've served them so well. And God doesn't like it. In context, they will have to answer to God for their selfish, greedy behavior.

So there are some conclusions that God's chosen people can draw. It is that the rich are getting rich at the expense of both the poor and those that are becoming poor. Don't get me wrong, it is good that someone climbs out of desperate poverty in India to take a call center job that moved from America. But it is ungodly when this happens at the unfortunate expense of someone else in America ... who has no other job and no other alternative.

Consider that the guy in India who gets a job and moves into the middle class becomes a taxpayer in his nation. He wasn't on the government dole before that, so there's no relieving the public burden for welfare. On the other hand, the American worker that he displaced can find no other job and becomes a burden on the taxpayers who must fund his unemployment, health insurance and other welfare issues.

I've always said that godly professions must work at creating real value. To simply move value around from one place to the other is frankly quite ungodly. God's people are to do decent work that contributes something. Our fat cat executives in America are robbing the American people and the American government --- to line their personal and corporate pockets.

Unemployed Americans are desperate for jobs. And our bankrupt government is desperate for them to get jobs. Meanwhile, the cash is piling up in the corporations and in the executive suites of those corporations. Folks, this isn't progress. This is misguided selfishness. It is foolishness.

So let's be clear about this. America is facing a so-called jobless recovery because its business leaders are greedy and selfish. Any questions?

On Astrology

2011-01-15T03:00:00.002-06:00

The news reports made it into the category called "news of the weird." Scientists have discovered that the zodiac signs modern culture uses are all wrong. Yes, you read that right.

It seems that when astrologers laid things out more than 3,000 years ago (before the birth of Jesus Christ), they were based on certain alignment of planets and stars against the earth. But over the years, the earth apparently wobbled a little on its axis. So now everything is off by about one month. My sign used to be Virgo. But not anymore. It turns out I was never a Virgo. Instead, I am Leo. (See the chart at http://www.abc-7.com/Global/story.asp?S-13828331).

I will confess that my reaction to this was similar to the reaction I had when the Catholic church did away with Purgatory (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article598134.ece). A type of sinister looking holy smirk spread across my face. I'd always known the Catholic theology had holes in it. Finally the pope and I were getting on the same page about that.

I've always loved Catholic people. But as I studied the Word of God, it became clear to me that they, for the most part, are a group of people living under deception. Worse yet, they are ignorant of the deception. They don't even know they are wrong!

And so it is with people who follow their horoscope, pay attention to zodiac signs etc. I've always known that was a farce. But the troubling part of deception like this is that it often feels as if its true. In fact, that's usually how the deception proliferates ... it comes disguised as truth.

I don't know if it's me, but I think I'm noticing a lot more posts on Facebook, for example, from people whom I know profess to be born-again Christians. They are posting their horoscope. They are asking people what their sign is. Is it possible that they aren't conscious of the fact that a horoscope intends to gain (or provide) insight into a person's character and tell the future of that person's life? Or do they just get that entertainment value out of it?

The theology of astrology (if you will) is a basic belief that the planets and the stars have power over what happens in our lives. Those who study this theology become experts. They can tell you things about yourself that perhaps even you didn't know. And they can predict your future. It is against this backdrop that the worst of them purport to give you advice and help you make important decisions in your life.

It's a troubling sign for me, to read these fellow Christians posting about their astrological signs. The Bible expressly forbids divination, sorcery, and hidden arts (Deuteronomy 18:10-14). God's people (that's you and me) are to follow only God for direction in our lives (Deuteronomy 18:15). Any other source of guidance, information or revelation is to be ignored and even rejected (Acts 16:16-18).

You see, the truth of the matter is that astrology opposes biblical teaching in at least two important ways. First, it advocates faith in something other than God, and credits something that God created with divine, supernatural power. Second, it places our attention on something other than God for our source of power and guidance. In fact, it denies God's perfect will for my life and His perfect control over all of my circumstances.

Christ-followers are to be reading our Bibles and praying every day. This is how the character of Christ takes over us. It is also our principal source of knowledge about how to move forward, what decisions to make, etc. There is to be no other source of such influence in our lives.

Consulting your horoscope is a direct and clear violation of God's plan for our lives. That the so-called astrology experts have just discovered a massive error in a so-called theology that is older than Christ Himself just provides further evidence of the futility of such wisdom. Think about it. People who have been following astrology for over 3,000 years have been deceived.

I thought I was a Virgo. I was told who Virgos are, how they function and predictions were given to me all my life. I've been told how to make decisions as a Virgo too. Then all of a sudden, I'm a Leo ... an entirely different person. What exactly does that do to an individual --- to mess with their identity like that?

The definition of who I am was decided on the cross. God knew me before I was even in my mother's womb. He had a perfect plan for my life (Jeremiah 29:11), and has provided me with His Spirit to guide me and help me make right choices and good decisions through out my days. So let us put away the entertainment value that we get out of astrology. It's like a false religion. Sadly, the further it goes, the more false it gets.

Fortunately, I don't have much stock in astrology anyway. I used to. But thanks be to God for revealing the truth to me, and exposing the lies I was believing. The thing is that I'm not rattled by this revelation of the whole shift in our zodiac signs which needs to be made, because it's been wrong forever. But for some of my Christian brothers and sisters, and for some of my non-Christian friends as well, they must be wondering what it's all about. Let's lead them to the truth. And in the process, we'll march right over the lies.

Now, my friend ... what sign are you? "Well, you see, I'm a sign of the cross!"

Life's Standard

2011-01-12T23:44:00.006-06:00

So there is this monstrous amount of activity and buzz around certain things in our culture. It could be the weather – that’s always a topic of interest … despite the fact that there’s nothing new about the weather. Let’s face it; the weather continues to churn out a status quo that has been in place for thousands or even millions of years. Or maybe it’s the latest celebrity divorce or character meltdown. Maybe it’s the latest business sensation. (Often those seem to evolve around technology for whatever reason.) The point is that there never seems to be a shortage of things for people to buzz about.

But what is it about these things that make them newsworthy? What elements compel the world to sit up and take notice … of anything or anyone? Is it that they are delivering new value? Or maybe it is that they are destroying value. Yeah, tragedies are always good for some buzz and hype. Is it that these "buzz-worthy" things solve a social problem or meet a human need? Could it be that they just satisfy, at best, a human desire? Is that enough? If society sits up and takes notice of something for no better reason than it’s different or it’s entertaining --- are we letting them off the hook too easily? Shouldn’t we be demanding more from the newsmakers that the world buzzes about?

The Bible tells us to focus on things that are “excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8) I think that means that, amongst other things, God has good taste. I believe God appreciates the finer things in life. (After all – He created them!) But when He tells us in Philippians 4:8 to focus on things that are “excellent and worthy of praise,” I don’t think He’s just talking about staying away from sin. Of course, the good Lord wants each of us to focus on the pursuit of righteousness. No matter what translation of the Bible you use, that message is clear.

But let’s consider what all could fall under the category of “excellent and worthy of praise.” Certainly, that would eliminate many things. Trashy TV, tawdry affairs, smut, and other such ungodly and unrighteous things are surely out. They have no place in the life of God’s chosen people. But beyond that, I think God wants us to focus on excellence. He wants us to do our best. He wants us to dress our best, eat our best and live our best. To be perfectly honest, I'm convinced that God wants us to have the best too!

So what are the finer things in life … that this Lord of the universe would have us pursue? Good food, good drink, good entertainment, good friends, good dress, good homes, good entertainment. Yes, those all sound about right.

Why then are Americans, for example, considered to be among the worst-dressed nation on earth? Why would the most Christian nation on earth also have the biggest pornography industry? Or the biggest trade in illegal drugs? Never mind the fact that we eat the worst foods, are the most obese, have one of the highest divorce rates, etc.

Consider the way we dress. Why is it okay, for example, to wear socks with flip-flops when you travel? Or why is it okay for a woman to wear flip-flops with her dress? Is that really “excellent and worthy of praise?” How about men who tattoo all sorts of odd things on their torso and arms? Or men who wear their pants so low they’re nearly about to fall off? Maybe it’s the men who wear torn jeans and shoes that are never tied. Are these things “excellent and worthy of praise?” I think not!

Of course, if you’ve read my blog much, you know for sure that I’ll have an opinion. It doesn’t matter the topic, I’ll have an opinion. Taking a stand is just something that I do. Just between you and me – I think that in itself is “excellent and worthy of praise!” I’ve heard it said that people who don’t stand for something will fall for anything. And I darned sure don’t intend to ever be one of those people! So I look at a situation or circumstance. I consider God’s perspective. And I search for the moral high road … so I can get on it.

The thing is, I believe Americans are trapped in a mindset where we settle. We settle for most anything. Bad dress. Bad service. Poor quality. We don’t mind. Gone are the days when we would get indignant about not getting value for the price we’ve paid. Today we only get upset if it’s something we can’t afford. Perhaps the affluence of modern American society enables us to afford a lot more mediocrity. I’m pretty sure that mediocre costs a lot more than excellence. And since we’re so affluent in this country (the U.S.A.), we can afford quite an extensive array of mediocrity.

In the “good ole days,” when people had a lot less than we do now, I believe they lived better than we do. That is to say they lived lives that were more excellent and worthy of praise. Their houses were cleaner. They were in better health. They didn't have much, but took good care of what they did have. They dressed their Sunday best ... on Sundays of course. And when they got something, like a Christmas gift, it seemed to mean so much more. Maybe that's because their gifts were so excellent and worthy of praise! Mind you, I'm not pining for the "good ole days." I would never do that. I'm always the dare devil who is racing into the promising future that I think life has for all of us. But I am making an observation.

I have a teen-aged son, who perpetually loses things. We’ve bought him umpteen watches (seriously, we’ve lost count). He “loses” every one of them. How this is possible we don’t know. But they just disappear. It is the same with most of his other belongings. They often disappear into this mysterious abyss and cannot be accounted for. And I wonder if thirteen year old boys had this problem back in the 1930’s - or maybe in the 1950’s. Somehow I don’t think they did. Kids didn’t have nearly so much of anything back then. But what they did have was more excellent and worthy of praise - so they took better care of it.

So when did we cross the line to where we have so much stuff that none of our stuff really matters all that much?

That's a rhetorical question, of course. If anyone can answer, please be my guest. But I don't know the answer. I can't seem to find that line that we crossed as a society. But I am convinced that it's there. Somewhere. What I do know is that it’s not where God wants us to be. I watch those hoarding shows on TV, or the house cleaning shows on TV. I see people who are literally drowning in stuff. Is this excellent and worthy of praise? Perhaps it started out that way. But somehow you cross some sort of line where things that were excellent and worthy of praise just become stuff. And then they don’t matter. In fact, then they become a problem. They take over and make your life anything but excellent and worthy of praise.

As we chart the course of this New Year, I think it’s time that we take a serious look at what we have. It’s time that we cleaned out and got rid of that stuff which is not really excellent and worthy of praise. I mean it. Look at every single thing in your closet, or your garage, or your attic, or your storage locker. If you can't find it to be excellent and worthy of praise - then get rid of it. For heaven's sake (literally), why would you want anything that isn't excellent and worthy of praise!

When we’re finished with that project on what we have, then we can move on to what we do. How do we spend our time? What needs to be tossed out because it isn’t excellent and worthy of praise? What do we read, listen to, watch, attend, or participate in? Are each of them excellent and worthy of praise? God wants them to be. What's on you iPod? What movies do you have? What radio stations do you listen to? What books are you reading? (And just because you can read them on your new Kindle doesn't make them excellent and worthy of praise!)

There is a significant delta between the lives that we are living and the lives that God intended. Ironically, God’s people don’t look any different than the rest of the people. Why? Because we don’t limit ourselves to that which is excellent and worthy of praise. We don’t make a concerted effort to clean up our agenda – and set a higher standard for ourselves. God told us to. In Philippians 4:8. Go read it for yourself. He created us to live excellent lives, full of victory and full of joy. And He set a pretty high standard for us to get there.

It’s clear that God wants the best for us. Unfortunately, we seem content to settle for something considerably less than that. Folks, let’s not do that anymore. Let’s take our time, our culture, and our focus, and turn them toward the things that God ordained for us --- in a life that is excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8 is a mandate. It’s not just a suggestion or a housekeeping tip. It’s a compass to guide our decision making ... about everything.

So let's get started. The New Year is just begun. 2011 is full of promise. Let's each do our part to make it excellent and worthy of praise!

Obedience

2011-01-07T08:29:00.007-06:00

Obedience is a word that our modern culture doesn't embrace too easily. In fact, I think it is a concept that we readily dismiss. We send our dogs, maybe, to obedience school. But that is probably the extent to which most of us regard obedience.

Parents don't typically demand obedience from their children. They don't teach it to their children either. Even at the toddler stage, we see American parents encouraging their children to express themselves, develop an opinion, etc. Parents will ask the children where they should eat out. They may buy a certain car or other large ticket item because the child said it was the best decision.

There are lines for obedience all around us too. Our governments make rules and laws that we are to obey. Our work places have procedures and rules that we are to obey. Of course, the Bible has its own set of commandments and other things that we are to obey. And yet, most of us, if we're really honest, pay little regard to the concept of obedience. Going a little over the speed limit doesn't seem like much of an issue for people who would otherwise regard integrity highly. And skirting rules at work to make sure your own agenda is fulfilled doesn't seem so wrong. After all, the companies expect people to do this. Right?

The point is that, in terms of virtues, obedience isn't highly valued. I bet if you gave people a list of virtues and ask them to rank them, things like honesty, loyalty, generosity, or even open-mindedness would rank higher than obedience for most of us. In fact, I imagine there are people today who wouldn't even agree that obedience belongs on a list of virtues. In terms of priority, it's probably lucky if it can rank in that "nice-to-have" category.

I have to confess that I've been a very disobedient individual myself - both as a child and as an adult. It wasn't until I became a true Christ-follower that obedience began to matter in my life. Somewhere along the line, obedience started take hold in my thinking processes. It was at about that time that I began to also realize just how disobedient I really was. I'd always known that sneaking a cookie in childhood or violating curfew as a teen were disobedient. But I'd never considered obedience as an employee or citizen. And I most certainly hadn't given much thought to the notion of obedience as a Christian.

One day, during my daily Bible time, I stumbled on a passage of Scripture that really seared my consciousness. It was Jesus talking in the 14th chapter of the book of John. Let's take a look at what Jesus said here.

"Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me ... Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching ... Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me." (John 14:21-24)

So here I had been going to church, reading my Bible, praying, listening to Christian music on the radio, attending conferences, volunteering and doing everything else I thought went into the making of a good Christian. But Jesus stops me cold in my tracks. "If you love me, you'll obey me. If you don't obey me, then you don't really love me." That's essentially what He said to me. Moreover, He told me that this wasn't just His perspective, but rather it is God's perspective.

Through the years since that day, I've come to understand more deeply that God is unchanging on issues like this as much as He is unchanging in areas like love and mercy, for example. So God has always felt this way about obedience. He looks past my prayers and my good deeds and my church attendance and my volunteering and all the Christian stuff I buy at Mardel's book store. He looks past all that ... searching for my obedience, the true sign of my love for Him.

In the Old Testament, we can observe a consistent pattern for the Israelites. Frequently the language says something like, "During this time the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." In fact, those very words are found in several places through the Old Testament. And each time, it described a period when the people weren't close to God, their lives weren't going very well, and God was angry with them. He was looking for their obedience and not finding it.

In 1 Samuel 15:22, we are told that God values our obedience even above our sacrifices and gifts or offerings to Him. Said differently, we learn that there is nothing more valuable that we can give to God than our obedience. Were you aware of that? Our obedience is the most priceless thing we can give to God. And, as Jesus said, it is the truest evidence of our love for Him. Volunteering in the children's ministry at church, donating canned goods or serving at the homeless shelter? Not so much.

It's easy to say that we love the Lord. It's often not even difficult to do His work, give money or make other expressions of loyalty and devotion to Him. But if God looks past everything else to try and find our obedience, what will He find? Will He find someone who is ignorant of what it means to be obedient? Will He find someone who hasn't read His Word and doesn't even know what it is we are to obey (i.e., His will for our lives)? Or will He find someone who is in His Word regularly, seeking to hear His will for their lives and then turning themselves to the task of making the choices that result in obedience to Him and His ways?

There are many aspects of our relationship with God. We're often most focused on how God responds to us. God loves us. God forgives us. God saves us. God calls us. God even seeks us. If we understand them, we ourselves are pleased with God's responses to us. They're edifying. They're purifying. They're live-giving. So you might say, for example, that people love a forgiving God. And of course that would be true.

Similarly, there are just a myriad of ways that we can respond to God. And many of those are assumed to be pleasing to Him. Of course those are the responses that we like to think the most about. You'll hear things like, "The Lord loves a cheerful giver." Of course that is true. But the caveat to that or any other rhetoric we could muster up would be that, "The Lord loves an obedient and cheerful giver."

May each of us focus on the ways that God responds to us. And may we focus very sharply on the ways that we can respond to God which He finds pleasing. But above all else, may we respond to Him obediently. For there is found the true measure of our love for the Lord.

New Year's Day

2011-01-01T08:45:00.011-06:00

Well, here we are on New Year's Day. It's a cultural phenomenon, I think. It may be worthy of sociological observation too. Consider the behavior of people just before New Year's and immediately after.

Here in the U.S.A. we have a national tradition. Hundreds of thousands of people gather in and around Times Square in New York City - to watch a light crystal ball be slowly lowered at the precise moment that marks the start of the New Year. There's music and celebration going on for hours before this ball makes its move. And of course there's music and celebration going on for several hours afterward as well.

Throughout the country, we have smaller celebrations that seem to try to capture the moment. I'm told that the second largest event in the country on New Year's Eve actually takes place in my own city of Dallas, Texas. It's also an outdoor celebration, at Victory Plaza downtown. There are many outdoor celebrations though, all with the intent to helping people "ring in the New Year." Perhaps the strangest was in the Florida Keys --- where they lowered a drag queen in a giant high heeled shoe. But I digress.

The thing is, people have just come through the biggest religious holiday celebration of the year. Christmas is still lingering in the air. Most of us haven't even started to take down the Christmas decorations. So it's a little odd to me that we gear up for this totally non-religious holiday. And we party hardy.

My son and I were at the health club yesterday - December 31st. I don't believe I've ever seen so many people in the club. I found myself wondering if they were ...

.... trying to atone for their sin of not working out in 2010
.... trying to psyche themselves up for 2011 resolutions about to be made
.... getting ready to get drunk and though exercise would help their stamina

I know a lot of people get gussied up and go out to party on New Year's Eve. Many of them don't plan to get drunk. Women get their hair done, get fancy new dresses, and make a big deal of going out. And their men, not so much. But they go out too, perhaps for different reasons.

My wife and I stayed home. Since early in our marriage, when we had a couple of narrow misses with drunk drivers, we've made a habit of staying home or close to home on New Year's Eve. We try not to be out driving that night. Last night, we had a couple of friends come for supper. We played board games by the tree, in front of the fireplace and ate party food until it was time to tune into the broadcast of the ball lowering in Times Square (NYC).

Several of the local network channels were broadcasting Dallas' New Year's Eve celebration. Or they were doing a delayed broadcast of the New York event. We wanted to see the New York event on Dallas time --- so we could go to bed an hour earlier! So we found what we wanted on CNN. There the evening was co-hosted by Anderson Cooper and comedienne Kathy Griffin.

Now Anderson is a gentlemen of great refine. Being the son of fashion maverick Gloria Vanderbilt, he's come from fine stock and is a well-mannered, gentleman. Kathy Griffin, on the other hand, proved that she has no class whatsoever. It seemed that light-hearted banter between the two was the agenda for the evening. But Anderson continually having to tell Kathy to stop using foul language (my 13 year old son was watching with us), and Kathy continually punching Anderson in the gut, got to be a little too much.

My wife and I were discussing this morning what we thought Anderson should do about it. Certainly he shouldn't put up with Kathy's no-class, white trash act any more. If I were him, I'd refuse to work with her. Moreover, I'd probably work to get her black-balled from the Larry King Live show and its replacement. (She's been one of Larry King's most frequent guests.)

So did you notice that? We tuned in to watch a celebration. Twelve hours later we were still talking about how repulsive one of the hosts had been. She actually subtracted from the festive air of the event. Please, CNN. Do yourselves a favor and can that broad.

Anyway, this whole culture of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day strikes me today. I mean it strikes me that it is a whole lot of hoopla ... that's pretty much over nothing. What are we celebrating? Is that worth celebrating? Does the celebration match the size of the event?

If you partied hardy on New Year's Eve, or even if you didn't, my guess is that New Year's Day isn't such a high point for you. As days go, it's pretty anti-climactic really. You sleep in. You clean up the party mess from the night before. Most of us start taking down Christmas decorations. We may do something to get started on New Year's resolutions. But for the most part, the day is quite unremarkable for the typical American.

Why would we bust ourselves to party and celebrate a day which then proves year after year to be quite unremarkable? We always hear people justify it by talking about how each New Year's Day represents a new start. They may argue that we're celebrating the year that's coming to a close. Or they'll argue that the New Year is such a new beginning that it merits excitement.

But let's be honest here. Did you ever think to yourself, "Wow! That 1997 was such a year! We were so darned blessed that year!" Or did you ever find yourself thinking, "Gosh, 2011 is going to be such an awesome year! I just know God is going to bless me beyond measure this coming year!"

Well of course you haven't. And that's my point. We humans seem to treat the rolling of the calendar from one day to the next as if it were some sort of milestone in life. We behave as if it changes everything. We tell ourselves that it's worth getting excited for. But then it doesn't deliver. And we forgive it for that. I mean, it's not as if we really ever expected it to deliver! Still, we embrace it as if it will.

Is it possible that New Year's celebrations are evidence of the greatest case of denial known to mankind? Is this where we deny the reality of the past? Is it where we deny the real likelihood of the future? Is there any real evidence that could be the basis for any assumption that 2011 will be markedly better than 2010? If so, I'd like someone to show me.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I don't know about you, but that's real, tangible evidence that should be the basis for expectation in the coming year. However, even Jeremiah 29:11 is a promise in the context of a covenant. These are God's plans for His people when we are obedient.

Did you catch that? All the ways that 2010 failed to live up to my expectations, and all the ways that 2011 will meet my expectations, are tied to my obedience. Said differently, unless I am obedient, I have no basis for expecting anything out of Jeremiah 29:11. In fact, my failure to obey God in all things could quite possibly mess up the blessings He intends for me.

I saw a sign on a church near my house yesterday. It was announcing a New Year's Eve service. And I thought about how appropriate that is. We should be in church on New Year's Eve. We should be examining our ways and testing them. (Lamentations 3:40) We should be using the turn of the calendar to check our obedience and get serious about what expectations we really have and should have of God.

Happy New Year. Now let's get busy and obedient!

Your Own Understanding? Lean Not!

2010-12-30T03:00:00.004-06:00

Quite often we can learn important lessons from observing the history of people who've lived life before us. As we do, some fundamental truths can become evident. But these fundamental truths, while not denied by anyone, are very frequently also not remembered by anyone. And so we repeat the mistakes that others have made

Think about that for a moment. Someone who may have lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago makes a bad choice that results in some unpleasant consequences. The event is recorded and made available to us now. Nevertheless we either are ignorant of it in the first place or fail to remember it. Perhaps we are aware of it and recall it, but we don't think it is applicable. Our situation or circumstances are "different" to the point that we don't think the consequences could be the same. Thus we are surprised by what would have been very predictable dilemmas or outcomes to our decisions or actions.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites were God's chosen people. He intended to favor them and bless them richly. And He did ... when they obeyed Him and sought to follow His ways. The thing is that they weren't consistent. Often something different than obedience occurred ... and God's favor and blessings evaporated right before their very eyes.

Judges 17:6 tells us why. "In those days, Israel had no king (i.e. no absolute rule or pre-set boundaries in day-to-day life), so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." Said differently, the people relied only on their own perspectives to decide how they should live. Their perspective ... or their own understanding was the source of their morality.

Of course, each time this happened, Israel found itself at odds with God and His will. They also found themselves outside of His favor and His rich blessings. The solution? Repentance of sin. Look at that again. Repentance of sin. So the thing is that doing whatever seems right in or own eyes is sin. Did you know that? Anytime that you look at a situation, process it with your own perspective and your own understanding, you are sinning against the Lord.

Proverbs 3 provides a wealth of knowledge on this whole notion of doing what seems right or best in our own eyes. Let's take a look at some of this rich wisdom directly from God's Word.

"... do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, ... Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him ... Do not be wise in your own eyes ... Honor the Lord with your wealth ..." Did you get all that? Notice that it's not vague or ambiguous. In fact, it couldn't be said more succinctly than this.

We are not to lean on our own understanding ... of anything. Why would that be? Basically it's because our own understanding of anything is incomplete at best. More than likely it's perverted because of our own biases and imperfect perspectives. So no matter what you think in a situation ... there's a very good chance that you're flat out wrong. Do we allow for such a possibility when we're drawing conclusions or making decisions?

I had to have a difficult conversation with one of my sons earlier this week. He was in the middle of a situation that he thought was quite impossible. He saw no way to proceed. In his despair, he communicated his perspective very poorly and ended up on the losing side of a conflict. I had to sit him down and explain to him that I knew of a way out. I knew of a way in which he could be victorious in the face of those seemingly impossible circumstances he found himself in.

As we concluded our conversation, he realized that my perspective had significant value. We talked a bit about that. It wasn't difficult to see that leaning on his own understanding had left him in despair, and on the losing end of what he believed to be an impossible dilemma.

Why did I know so much more? Basically because I'm not him. It's not that I'm smarter or more intelligent. It's just that I have a different perspective. And mine is shaped by the significantly greater number of years that I've been experiencing this human life.

Whether you're talking about a nation or a teen-aged son, God's Truth is consistent. Leaning on our own understanding will inevitably lead us to despair and failure. But allowing God to use the perspective of other people, seeking God's perspective, and allowing for the possibility that we ourselves could be wrong is precisely how God wants us to go forward.

Truth is not relative. So doing what we think is right can quite often lead us to trouble. The right way forward is therefore found only in the collective perspectives of those whom God puts in our lives, as well as God's own perspective. But each of us must lay aside our pride long enough to go and get those other perspectives. Each of us must seek out the understanding of God and others whom He puts in our lives --- instead of making do with whatever understanding we ourselves may possess at the time.

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has a plan for us. It is a plan to prosper us and give us a hopeful future. It is a plan for us to be victorious over life's challenges and circumstances. But the thing is, this plan of God's --- it is never found through our own understanding. Never.

"So Lord, let me have the presence of mind to realize that whatever my own understanding is, it always has the potential to be incomplete or even wrong. And let me have the humility to lay aside my pride and seek out Your perspective, as well as that of the wisest people that You've put in my life. In Jesus' name I pray this. Amen."

Indebted To Unfriendly Nation

2010-12-27T06:28:00.006-06:00

I'm not in the habit of posting or recommending what other people have written. After all, this is my blog, and so I quite naturally have an underlying assumption that people visit it to hear what I have to say.

That notwithstanding, there are times when I find that my voice and the voices of others are in unison. In fact, there are times when I think perhaps the other voices might actually be saying it better than me.

Such is the case on China. I've blogged before about the analogy I see between God's instructions to the Israelites not to make treaties or live comfortably with people who didn't share their (God's) values --- and the United States' increasingly common habit of doing exactly that.

I'm not picking on China here. I see similar analogies in the U.S. relationship with countries like Saudi Arabia and Japan. But let's face it, any treaties or business we've done with those other countries pales in comparison to what we're doing with China. In fact, it feels as if the U.S. is racing as fast as it can to a Chinese state.

So I ran across a columnist recently who took what I think is an unbiased look at American relations with China. She wasn't burdened with a Biblical perspective (as I undoubtedly am). And I didn't get the opportunity to brain wash her to my way of thinking. I've never met or even corresponded with her. Its all the more peculiar then that I'm going to recommend her.

Froma Harrop writes for the Providence (Rhode Island) Journal, and is published elsewhere as well. I believe she's accurately stated the truth about America's consumption relationship with China. And I recommend you read it at the link below. At the very least, it will help you become more educated about the situation yourself.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/12/21/can_we_break_the_china_habit_108303.html

If you want to read more about who China is, there's a comprehensive (U.S.) state department summary at http://www.factmonster.com/country/profiles/china.html.

Rock Pile

2010-12-25T03:00:00.006-06:00

It seems to happen every year. The shopping is finished. The parties are over. All of the surprises have been had. We've gone through the annual ritual of opening the family Christmas gifts in front of the fireplace, around that splendid tree that my wife always puts up. Each of the family members tends to drift off to our own quiet little corner of the house. Reading the new book. Trying on the new clothes. Playing with the new gadget. Everyone seems content.

And me? I guess I'm no different. I drift off a bit myself. I usually put away the things I received for Christmas right away. I may have to endure the frustration of trying to put together a new toy for the kids. Or I'll have to figure out what part is missing from the new gadget --- and promise that we'll shop for it the day after Christmas. But inevitably, I find myself drifting off to a place in my mind.

It's a unique little place. A library of sorts. It holds all those memories of Christmases past. I don't go there often. Really I only go there at Christmas time. How strange that is. I wonder why I don't visit there more frequently than that.

In this unique place in my mind, I find the face of Christmases past. I recall family Christmases at home when I was younger. Dad & Mom set the tone. Brothers and sister, nieces and nephews, grandparents. They were all part of the scene. Grandpa and Grandma are dead now. Long ago actually. Dad and Mom are dead too. Brothers have drifted off to their own lives. Nieces and nephews grew up. My sister continues to be estranged ... certain that she knows better than I what truth is all about.

I don't know if it's a memory of Christmases past - or a reminder of Christmases lost. Christmas in my youth always seemed a special time. But I can't say they were better Christmases. They were different. And more noticeable is how I find that they had such an impact on me. They seem like such profound Christmases now. And I find myself grieving. But what is it that I grieve? Good question.

I don't know if I would wish for things to be like they were in days gone by. I'm pretty sure that I don't. I've always been the guy who looks ahead, embraces change and believes in the future. But apparently I grieve something. And I do it just about every year on Christmas day. What could it be? What could take the most special day of the year and drive me to a melancholy mood of somber silence?

I wonder if maybe I'm just grieving the Christmases that could have been. I come from what could only be defined as a dysfunctional family. Ironically, I'm pretty sure that most of my family members would argue with me about that definition. (That in itself probably validates the definition.) I have to admit that the dysfunction saddens me. And perhaps it saddens me more at Christmas time than at any other time of the year.

Is it that Christmas can shine such a light on family dysfunction? Or is it that the world around us puts such expectations upon Christmas that any family looks dysfunctional as it fails to live up to those unrealistic expectations? Somehow I expect it is the latter. Regardless of the cause, family dysfunction seems to foist its measure of sadness on me at Christmas more than any other time of the year.

Now somewhere in this place of sadness, I find myself turning to my Lord. It's as if He followed me into this place. And just when I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the dysfunction of it all ... I turn and He is there. And He's saying, "I'm here, son. Embrace me." When He does that, the pain of any family dysfunction seems to fade. He is that kind of God.

I always get up in the morning and read my Bible ... before I do anything else. I was sharing with a friend the other day how intense those sessions have gotten lately. I can sit and read for hours if the day would allow. I just can't seem to spend enough time in God's Word lately. Anyway, I was reading this morning in the book of Joshua and had a profound epiphany on Christmas morning. In the book of Joshua.

Moses had died and Joshua was leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. As God had instructed, Joshua had the Levite priests carry the Ark of the Covenant ahead of the people. They had to cross the Jordan River, which was seasonally at its crest. But when the priests set foot into the Jordan River, it stopped flowing and the water piled up on one side, while draining from the other side. Soon there was a dry river bed for the Israelites to cross.

The Levites stood there with the Ark of the Covenant while something like 2 million people crossed. It was an incredible miracle. Just like He had parted the Red Sea some 40 years earlier, God again parted the rushing, turbulent and deepest waters of the Jordan River to make a clear, safe passage for His people.

After they had crossed, Joshua had leaders of the 12 tribes go and get a rock each from the dry river bed. When the priests came out the water rushed back in and the river was again fully and flowing. But they used the rocks to make a sort of a monument --- to remind them of what God had done for them.

So as I went out front to get the morning paper, the cold air confronted me. It was at that moment that I realized God has parted plenty of rushing, dangerous waters for me in my day. I've walked through amazing circumstances safely because of His intervention. I stood there in the crisp dawn and thanked God aloud. I wondered if I should build a memorial of rocks in my yard to remind me of where God has taken me.

I can't seem to help but make this annual trek to the sadder places of my mind. It seems that the Christmas festivities and the unreal expectations that our society places on them drive me there, year after year. But I also can't explain the miracle that occurs each year. I wander through the family dysfunction, observing the pain of what has or what could have been.

And always I turn and He is there. God is right there with me. And He says that Jesus is enough. Jesus is more than enough for everything that was or could have been. At our church's Christmas Eve service last night, I sat and listened to the most beautiful voice of the soloist singing, "Hallelujah, hallelujah! Son of God ... you're here with me." And the tears rolled down my cheeks as I thought about just how true that really is. He is here with me.

I stand in awe of a most wonderful God. I stand humbled, joyous over the knowledge that God is triumphant. And I stand with the unshakable confidence in the knowledge that I am His. And I say, "Merry Christmas, God. Thank you for your most wonderful gifts. No matter the pain and disappointment of life. In you I am just fine."

I think I shall start building that pile of rocks in the yard to remind me of those rushing rivers God has calmed for me to walk through. Who knows, maybe it'll become the place I can drift to on Christmas days to come.

Religious Holidays

2010-12-23T03:00:00.006-06:00

Christians have our two most important holidays of the year. Christmas and Easter. They're when we celebrate the birth of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. It's all about the Christ. But I notice something about how we observe these holidays. They seem to look quite different than the religious holidays of the Old Testament.

Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of the Harvest and the Festival of the Shelters seem to be the main religious holidays that God prescribed for the Israelite Jews. Now those holidays tended to be enormous affairs. There were sacrifices to God, there was prayer & fasting, there was feasting.

But above all, in each of these religious holidays there was prolonged worship and adoration of God. We're talking about several days. And there was Sabbath-like stopping of work. The world stopped revolving so that the people could worship their wonderful God. It's quite unlike what we're used to in the modern religious holidays of Christianity.

I think if I were running a Christian church today, I would definitely lean toward adopting and even embracing some of the Old Testament traditions. I think, for example, that we could look at the passover and consider that God called us to be His people. We couldn't even respond to Him if He hadn't first chose us.

And certainly we'd have something to celebrate in the Festival of the Harvest. Maybe we would do that one after the deadline for filing income taxes had come. It would be then that we could clearly count our blessings from the prior year. We'd have a feast. We'd have lots of prayer. And we'd have dancing and worshipping like nobody's ever seen.

The thing is that we Christians only have a couple of religious holidays, Christmas and Easter. Materialism and capitalism seem to have done a good job of hijacking both of them too. But when I look at the model for religious holidays in the Old Testament, there was of course no room for capitalism or commercialism.

Of course, Jesus had to deal with the money-changers in the temple. Still it's hard to imagine that the Festival of the Harvest, for example, had cards to mail, clothes to buy, etc. It's clear that God intended religious holidays to be solely focused on Him ... to the exclusion of all else. What do you suppose Christmas, for instance, would look like, if it were exclusively focused on Him?

I was in India earlier this month and was surprised to see how many Hindus celebrate Christmas. They put up trees, put up lights on their houses, buy gifts, wrap presents, etc. They have an entire Christmas season and holiday celebration --- completely devoid of Jesus Christ. How is this possible? How did we take something that was all about God and remove any trace of God from it?

Maybe we owe the Lord an apology. We need to apologize for Santa Claus, for Rudolph, for Frosty. We need to apologize for the Easter Bunny. The stockings hung by the chimney with care, and sleigh bells ... they've become serious contenders for the focus of our religious holidays. Knowing that He is a jealous God and wants our exclusive devotion, I can only imagine that these worldly things that we've saddled our religious holidays with really sadden our Lord, God.

So this Christmas, I find myself trying to think of ways to shut out the world of capitalism, the world of TV specials, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the Grinch and even Percy the Puny Poinsettia. Gosh, these stories and fantasies have all been fun and light-hearted. But I'm not finding that there's enough Christ in my Christmas. How can I put Him back in His rightful place ... at the center of my Christmas season?

My prayer is that the Lord will purify my Christmas and my Easter. My prayer is that He will help me shut out the trappings of capitalism and all in good fun. Let me find joy in the celebration without the food, without the music, without the smells and sights. But let me find my Christmas joy in Him alone. Yes, Lord, that is my prayer.

On Tithing

2010-12-21T03:00:00.002-06:00

I have to admit that for a long time, I considered myself a Christian - a Christ-follower, but didn't do anything about tithing. That is to say, I was aware of the mandate for God's people to give the "first fruits" of ten percent. I just didn't respond to that awareness. I had knowledge but not action.

Somewhere along the line, obedience became something that mattered to me. It wasn't a particular conviction about tithing. Rather it was a dawning awareness that obedience to God mattered. Obedience in general - in all things really. Frankly, when I had become a Christian, the notion of obeying was probably the furthest thing from my mind.

Anyway, towards the end of that year (when obedience dawned on me) I asked my wife to add up what we'd given the church. We made a ledger and saw that week after week, month after month, our giving had gradually increased. As it turned out, we were surprised to find that just about 10% of what we'd earned that year had been given.

Our first reaction to that revelation was simply, "We can't afford that!" Then we realized it had already been done. Our second reaction - or conclusion - was that apparently we could afford that, because indeed we had.

How had that come to pass? Well, I had been sitting down on Sunday mornings with our checkbook. Each week I would sit there with it and ask, "Okay God. How much?" And a certain number would come into my mind. That would be the amount of the check that week.

Had God led us into tithing without our realizing it? It surely seemed that way. I had no other explanation. And I knew that I hadn't consciously chosen to tithe. There was absolutely no deliberate effort on my part. That was several years ago. But I'll never forget that revelation that God had led us into tithing, we could afford to tithe, and we were in fact --- now "tithers." Quite frankly, it's a label we had never considered giving ourselves.

God's people are supposed to tithe. We're supposed to give at least 10% of everything we make. And we're supposed to do more than that. Ten percent goes to God (the organized church). There are offerings and gifts well beyond that though. We're to help the poor and the needy. Indeed, God wants His people to be defined as generous. Did you know that?

Now that we've been tithers for many years, I have some experiential learning about it. Let me share some of it with you.

1. Tithing is an obedience issue. God said do it. So do it.

2. It puts God first in our priorities. God gets His first. So we give our tithe before we even think about paying other bills or spending on anything else.

3. It supplies the "temple" and means "the Levites" (i.e., pastors and church staff) can be properly cared for. Without the tithe, the church is handicapped and dysfunctional.

4. Tithing affirms that we are aware God is our provision - and that we are willing to trust Him for our provision. Even when financial matters are pressing, I tithe because I know God is faithful.

5. Tithing kills selfishness and greed. It's hard to fantasize about winning the lottery, for example, when I know that God gets the tithe right off the top. All my thinking about money is changed when I'm a tither.

6. Tithing brings special blessings. God said (in Malachi 3) that our obedience in tithing will result in special blessings and provisions. Said differently, obedience in tithing means God will bless our finances. It's His promise. Really it is.

So the final part of this experiential learning I have about tithing relates to where our giving is to come from. Frankly, 10% of say a million dollars isn't too difficult. God requires the first 10% for Himself. But He further instructs His people to be generous givers. In other words, God's directive with my finances doesn't stop with tithing. For wealthy people, for example, giving God 10% isn't going to require much of a sacrifice or much faith.

But I've learned that God's people are supposed to tithe and give out of our sacrifice, and not just out of our excess. That's right, give out of our sacrifice instead of giving out of our excess. What's the difference? Giving out of our sacrifice means that we give whatever amount it takes to cut into our comfort zone.

We are all to give to the point that it costs us something. For the poor, that's probably going to be 10%. But for the affluent, it's going to be a lot more. Ten percent is the minimum. And there is no cap.

The Lord loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7) But I've learned that when this so-called cheerful giver loves the Lord and gives out of response to that love, much more can be accomplished with that giving.

I've often wondered why so many so-called Christians can --- as I did for years --- ignore or overlook this important mandate to tithe. Frankly, I'm amazed at how many years I called myself a Christian and didn't tithe. How could I have been so ignorant and unaware?

Call it ignorance. Call it heresy. Call it whatever you want to call it. But I suspect that all most of us would need to become tithers is simply to allow God to lead us. He can lead us into that tither role, without our ever realizing He's doing it.

He is a merciful God. But He wants you and I to be tithers. He wants you and I to give generously. And He wants each of us to give from our sacrifice and not just from our excess. It's how God's people are to be defined. It is His will for our lives.

OMG!

2010-12-17T03:00:00.001-06:00

You know, there is a phrase in our culture that has just become so common that many people don't even know what it means when they say it. I'm talking about that all-to-familiar, "Oh my God!"

Then there is the less-frequent-but-still common, "Oh God!" And the former of these two has morphed into, "OMG" as the latest generation takes to texting and tweeting.

Think about it. You may even use this phrase yourself. I know I have. Even when I try not to, it just seems to roll off my tongue quite naturally. It's like using an exclamation point at the end of a sentence. We use the phrase to express shock, wonder, dismay. An exclamation point. That's all it is really. I mean - it's not like we're really talking to God about anything when we say it. There's nothing prayerful or reverent about it when we look on something impressive and say, without really thinking, "Oh my God!"

For the more colloquial crowd, we're seeing more and more, especially in places like Facebook or on blogs, another version. It turns out that "OMG!" has a sister phrase, "OMFG!" You can figure out what the "F" stands for there. "Oh my f---ing God!" But again, it expresses dismay, shock, wonder, amazement or even frustration. And again, there's nothing prayerful or reverent about it. We're certainly not inviting God into the circumstance or even into our thinking.

Someone on Facebook last week posted a response to something someone else had posted. Their response? "OMFG! LMAO!" Translated (for those of you who aren't cool and hip on the Internet yet), they were saying, "Oh my f---ing God! I'm laughing my a-- off!" Really? Is that really what you want to say about the situation?

Now the thing is, we live in a society where this is common. Get on the social networks. Or just watch TV or listen to the radio. Let someone win something. Let their house get a makeover on a reality show. Invariably the first words that come out of their mouth are, "Oh my God!" Next time you watch a game show or reality show on TV, watch for this phrase to be used.

So why am I blogging about this today? Well, because it disturbs me. And the further along I get in my walk with the Lord, the more convicted I am about this. I've always been taught not to "take the name of the Lord in vain." I've also always knew not to blaspheme the Lord or His name. It's pretty common teaching for most of us. And we think we know where the boundary is for taking God's name in vain or committing blasphemy with His name. I used to think it was simply not cussing with God's name. Avoid that and you're good to go. Or so I thought.

"Do not treat my name as common and ordinary ..." - Leviticus 22:32 Of course there are several translations that we can look to for context here. Most of the translations (see http://www.biblegateway.com/) use the word "profane." So they would read, "Do not profane my name ..." Of course the definition of profane is simply to misuse anything that should be held in reverence or with respect, or to use unworthily. Were you familiar with that definition?

At any rate, I think it's safe to say that God is telling us not to use His name in a cavalier, thoughtless manner. Don't reduce it to an exclamation point. Don't couple it with an "f-bomb." Don't use it in any context that isn't deeply reverent and respectful. And it's pretty clear that this is a subject God feels strongly about.

Take a look at Leviticus 24:10-16. Here we have the story of a boy who blasphemed (profaned) the Name of the Lord. God's edict on the situation is sobering. He told the Israelites to stone and kill this young man! Simply put, God said that anyone who misuses His name deserves death.

Now you can say that's just Old Testament - and God wouldn't kill anyone for using His name inappropriately today. That is certainly true. Jesus intervenes for us with God - and saves us from God's wrath regarding our sins against God. Still though, I think it's worthwhile to consider how God feels about something. What is God's perspective on the issue?

And more importantly, do I as a self-proclaimed Christian, really want my life and my words to be pleasing to my Father in Heaven? Of course, the point I'm making here is that there is no place in the vocabulary of a true Christ follower to be saying, "Oh my God!" when we are shocked, impressed, floored, awed, etc. God's name is not to be reduced to an exclamation mark in our vocabulary. It means we have some cleaning up to do with our words and thoughts.

I'm convicted. Are you?