Category Archives: Christianity

I once knew a lady who had tremendous faith. In fact, at one point she needed to move into a new house. I asked her if she had found one yet. She replied that she had not. When I asked her in what area she had been looking, she replied that she had not been looking at all. I said “I thought you had to be out of your house in two weeks?” She said that was correct. I asked her why she hadn’t been looking for a new place to live yet. Her reply: “I’m believing that God will send me a house. My faith is active on that. In fact, I’ve already packed all of my things and have it all by the front door so that when He opens the door, I’ll be ready to move in.”

Have you ever known someone like that? My next question to her was that if she had that kind of faith that God was going to drop a house in her lap why she didn’t have the faith to believe that He was going to pack her things and move them too. I don’t mean to sound demeaning, and I certainly don’t want to give the impression that God couldn’t have moved on her behalf and provided a house for her. I guess what stupefies me is the thought process that some have which creates a God that provides miracle after miracle without considering that He expects us to do some things for ourselves. I once knew of a man who didn’t believe that he had to work. God had promised in His Word that since He fed the birds and clothed the plants that he did not need to work to provide those things. God would provide them. He overlooked the scripture that addresses just that issue. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 says “If you don’t work, you don’t eat”. In other words, you have been given the means to provide for yourself and are expected to do so. That doesn’t mean that God has not promised to supply our needs if we are unable to provide for ourselves. It does mean that we are expected to do what we can with what we have.

I have known people who were put into a leadership position who were afraid to make decisions. They would pray about it and expect God to remove the lazy employee, or improve the performance of a poor employee or even to provide a good employee. What they didn’t realize is that God placed them in that position not so that He could do all of the work for them and make them look good, but so that they could do what He expected them to do and make God look good.

Consider the story of Joseph. This is a great example of how God works through us, and sometimes in spite of us. Joseph was a spoiled, fairly arrogant child by all accounts in the Bible. In fact, he was so annoying that his own brothers decided to sell him as a slave. In Egypt, he was purchased by a very prominent member of society. The Bible says that “The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.  When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did,  Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant.” ~Genesis 39:2-4. Notice that while it was God who did the blessing, it was Joseph who did the work. The Bible doesn’t just say that Joseph had success. It says that he had success in everything he did. Joseph worked. Joseph made decisions. Joseph did what he was supposed to do. He didn’t sit around and wait for God to do it for him. He allowed God to work through him. Eventually, Joseph became the 2nd most powerful man in Egypt. Was it because of God? Certainly. However, I believe that if Joseph had not done his job, the outcome of this story would have been very different.

In Genesis 41, Joseph is shown the meaning of a dream that Pharaoh had. There would be 7 years of agricultural overproduction followed by 7 years of famine. With this knowledge and the authority to do something about it, what did Joseph do? Some of us, if we were put in the same situation, would pray and ask God to provide for us without realizing that He already had. God is the one who gave Joseph the knowledge about the famine and put him in a position with the authority to act. Joseph didn’t sit around and wait for God to do something that God was expecting Joseph to do. God did His part. Now it was Joseph’s time to do his part. Joseph mobilized the entire country and saved part of the overage in agriculture. Then when the famine came, Egypt not only had enough food to provide for its own people, but people from all over the region came to get food. In the end, God’s plan was accomplished. Joseph was reunited with his family and not only Egypt, but people from all over the region, including the future nation of Israel, survived. Who gets the credit for this? God. Who did the work? Joseph.

There is also the story of Esther. Esther was a jewish girl who happened to be chosen to be the queen of Persia even though she was not Persian. During her time as queen, it came to her attention through her uncle Mordecai that there was a plot to kill all of the Jews. That would have meant that Esther and her family as well as thousands of Jews would have been killed. Did Esther pray that God would intervene and stop the plot? No. Mordecai told her “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” In other words, God may have placed you in a position to be able to do something about this. Did they seek God’s help? They certainly did. They fasted and prayed for three days asking for God’s favor and wisdom for Esther. God placed Esther in a position to do something. Esther recognized that God had placed her there in order to do something. She didn’t wait for God to do something. She went before the king, even though it could have meant her death just to approach him without being called first. She stopped the slaughter of the Jews and the man who came up with the plot was killed instead.

Too often we look for a miracle because we don’t want to do the work. I like what a well-known speaker said recently. “Miracles don’t produce maturity”. Often, the miracle is that we are in a position to handle the situation in the first place. Consider Joseph again. He was sold as a slave and yet became the 2nd most powerful man in Egypt. A miracle? I think so. Esther was a Jew who was chosen to be the queen of a foreign nation. The miracle was that she was even considered for the position, much less that she was chosen. I believe that sometimes, we rely on God for things that He expects us to do. We pray over the kind of breakfast cereal God wants us to eat that morning. We pray and ask God to make us a great musician without spending time practicing. We ask God to handle that situation at work that He has placed us in a position to handle. I don’t want to give the impression that God is distant and that we don’t need to rely on Him even for everyday things sometimes. But sometimes what we need is wisdom to handle the situation, not God’s intervention to handle it for us.

Where has God placed you? You may be a Joseph who has been put in a position of power and leadership in spite of yourself and your situation. You may be like Esther, who recognized that she had been placed in a position of authority just so she could affect the lives of those around her. What is God expecting you to do?

Those of you born later than 1970 may not get the title to this weeks blog. To the rest of us, it will make perfect sense.

There is a section of verses in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 where Solomon begins to rehearse some of what he has discovered is true about life. He starts out by saying “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:” We tend to accept this at face value (as we should – it is the Bible after all) without giving it much thought. OR, we tend to focus on what we perceive as the positive aspects of this scripture. I have come to realize that we may be missing at least part of what wise old Solomon may have been trying to get through to us. He says starting in verse 2 that there is “a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” Wait a minute? There is a time to kill? There is a time to give up? There is a time to hate? I think some of us may have missed those when we read this the first time. What are those times?

In his book Necessary Endings, Dr. Henry Cloud explores the possibility that we sometimes hold onto things that we should not hold on to. Sometimes we miss the future because we are still clinging to the past. I think Solomon is saying this in these verses. Sometimes, we have to allow some things to die so that there can be a birth. Sometimes we need to allow something in our lives to be uprooted so that something else can be planted. There are times when we need to tear some things down so that something better can be built. We like the idea of something being birthed in us, don’t we? We get happy when we talk about something being planted, or something being built. We’re usually not so enthusiastic about something dying, being uprooted or torn down. And yet, that’s exactly what Solomon is saying here. It’s right there in the Bible. There is a time… to die. There is a time… to uproot. There is a time….”  

Solomon also says that there is a time to weep and a time to mourn. Killing things in our lives is not always joyful for us. Uprooting destructive behavior may not be pleasant for us. Tearing down structures that we have built over years or even decades may not be pleasant for us, but God assures us through Solomon that there is a time for being sorrowful. Notice however, that in verse two, the being born comes before dying. Planting comes before uprooting. In verse 3 and 4, the order is reversed. There is a time to kill, but then a time to heal. After killing off some things that need to die, there is a time to heal. Healing usually takes time. I nearly cut my finger off in October of 2012. After nearly 9 months, it’s still healing. It didn’t heal overnight. Most of the time, when we have to do some killing off of things, it takes a while for complete healing to take place.

There is a time to tear down, then a time to rebuild. When we tear things down, they have often taken us quite some time to build. This often leads to the time of weeping or mourning that Solomon says will occur, but the time of rebuilding is usually so rewarding that it’s worth the pain of tearing down. Have you ever lost something in your life that you thought was irreplaceable, only to have it replaced by something better? I remember when my 8-track finally died. It was my friend. Then I discovered that the rest of the musical world had moved on since I had last purchased an audio device. Cassettes were now the rage, and I could even fast forward or rewind to a specific place in the song if I wanted. Of course, Cd’s came along, then mp3 players. How foolish would I be to still have an 8-track in my car?

After weeping and mourning come laughter and dancing. Most times, destruction, even of destructive behaviors, attitudes or actions, will cause us to mourn their loss. Unfortunately, we come to love some of the things that are the most harmful to us. I have learned though, that mourning the loss of something that has been destructive to my life has always been followed by the realization that I am much better off without it.

In Verse 6, Solomon says that there is a time to search, and also a time to give up. Now, I’m not a quitter, but I have also discovered that some of the things I have been searching for need to remain hidden. Some of my pursuits in life are not ones that would keep me in a position to do what God has called me to do. I would not fulfill my mission on earth if I were to discover some of the things that I have spent many years searching for. What are you looking for that you just need to give up on and trust God? A husband or wife? A better job? Sometimes, there is a time to give up and allow God to work it out for you. As Solomon says, there is a time to search. This may be your time to continue searching, but you must realize that there also comes a time when a continued search will only drain resources that you don’t have. There is a time to give up.

I may continue this in a future post, but let me end with a time to keep and a time to throw away. Some of us have met hoarders. Some of you may be hoarders. Hoarding comes from the thought “I may need this someday”. And so nothing is ever discarded because of the perception that it may be necessary in the future. What are you holding on to that you need to get rid of? What are you “hoarding” in your life with the thought that it may be necessary someday? Is there a relationship that you feel may come in handy in the future, but in the present it is clogging up your life? Is there an activity or even a hobby that you are holding on to because it may be useful in the future, but in the present leaves you with little time to engage in your purpose in the present?

Solomon says that there are different seasons in our lives. This may be your season to plant. It may be your season to uproot. It may be your season of birth. It may also be your season to kill something in your life. It could be your season to build something new, or, it could be your season to tear something down. What season are you in right now? Don’t be afraid to kill, tear down or uproot because there are also seasons of birth, building and planting. What needs to die in your life so that something can be born? What do you need to uproot so that something better can be planted? What needs torn down so that something better can be built in its place? It’s time to live in your season.

I’ve seen a lot of articles recently on the state of the church. I’ve seen statistics that say that the church in America is growing at a rate faster than other religions. I’ve seen statistics that show that the church is declining faster than at any other time in history. I’ve seen statistics that show that while the number of new churches outnumbers the number of churches that close their door each year, we are still not keeping up with the population growth. So while the church in America is theoretically growing, it’s not growing at a pace that is in line with the growth of the overall population. Regardless of which camp you belong to, I think that most Christians will agree that the church is in trouble. Most of us know someone personally that has become disillusioned with church and no longer attends. That’s a statistic that didn’t exist a few years ago, but has grown to the point now that we should start to pay attention. There have been whole books, such as Exit Interviews, by William D Hendricks , written about the mass exodus from American churches.

One of the interesting things about this phenomenon is how strongly some Christians feel about the religious aspect of Christianity. A recent article on churchleaders.com spoke about the need for the church to repackage the message of the gospel for both a new generation and a new culture. Some of the responses from Christians:

“Thank you for your article and the time spent on writing it. However, I feel these points are exactly why some churches are now social clubs instead of hospitals for the sick. Majority of pastors are concentrating on quantity when they need to focus on quality. When we turn back to following the word of God, we will see tangible results in the lives of true children of God.”

“I find it interesting that the … premise of the article is that the culture is shifting, therefore, the church needs to change with the culture. Sounds like the tail is wagging the dog. Seriously, how about an article that investigates what the New Testament tells us how to do church?”

“What matters is to let the Word of God dictate how we “do” church. If we believe that Scripture is the sole rule of faith and practice, then why do some look to the world for how we do church?”

Isn’t it interesting to see how some Christians will hold dogmatically to areas of perceived “truth” so fast that they will watch people die and go to hell before they will admit that we may need to change the way church is done? Sure, we can do church the way we have always done it, but if fewer people are attending to hear the life-changing message that we say we have, the real question is: why would we? Why are we so opposed to change? By “we”, I mean WE. Myself included. I’m not saying that Christians are the only ones opposed to change, but I am focusing my discussion here on the church. From the comments above, I would have to conclude that these people believe that the sacredness of the process outweighs the potential for reaching more people with the gospel, although I’m sure that they didn’t intend to say this at all.

The fact is, the scripture doesn’t really tell us how to “do church”. There are no rules for how we should conduct a church service. Sure, there is some instruction to the church in Corinth about order, but the Bible doesn’t tell us when (or how) to take up the offering, what type of music should be played, whether we should or shouldn’t permit any type of media (drama, video etc) in the service, what topics should be preached on and which should be left alone or even what preaching style works best at making disciples. You would think that Jesus would have given some specific instruction on that wouldn’t you? “I’m leaving you now. Go into all the world and make disciples. You’ll find that expository preaching works best with a blend of old and new musical styles. And don’t push the offering too heavily. People don’t like it when you talk about money. And for heaven’s sake, make sure that people don’t enjoy themselves! We don’t want to be labeled as entertainers.”  No such instruction exists as much as we wish it did sometimes. It would make things a lot simpler if we just knew what we were supposed to be doing. At least how we were supposed to be doing it.

I suspect that God knew what He was doing when He chose the vehicle of The Church to deliver His message. In fact, the church has not been exempt from conflict regarding style or message since its inception. Remember that little incident regarding allowing non-Jewish races to join the church? Some people (basically everyone) felt that the gospel had been presented to the Jews exclusively. It took God showing up to Peter personally on a rooftop to get that change to be reflected.

Paul also wrote extensively on the legalism that had crept into the early church. Some felt that unless you were Jewish physically, you could not become a member of the church. That had to cut down on the number of men who attended the early church. The point is that the church has always had differences of opinion on how to do things. While we have usually agreed on what to do, we have not always agreed on how to do it. While we have mostly agreed on what to say, we have not always agreed on how to say it. Jesus used parables. Paul used preaching, or expository speaking to get his message across. The thing is, we’re all different. Some people will respond to preaching, while others like myself will respond better to teaching. My mother senses the presence and power of God in hymns. I don’t. I am drawn into God’s presence through more modern musical styles. Still others experience God’s presence in prayer. We don’t all connect to God or to others in the same way, so why do we expect everyone to be like us? Of course, if everyone were just like me, the world would be a better albeit rather boring place. We’re not the same, and you know what? IT’S OK. Different does not equate to wrong. You like liturgy and ritual in worship? That’s OK. You like loud music and a pastor who wears jeans and a T-shirt? That’s OK too. It may not be me, but it’s OK if that’s you. See, the message we have does not change. God created man in His image to be in community with God. Man broke that community by disobeying God. That broken relationship has been passed down to each of us when we are born. However, although we deserved to die because of our disobedience, God had a plan to restore the broken relationship He now had with mankind. He sent His Son, Jesus, who had never broken God’s law, to take the punishment for our wrongdoing. Although Jesus did not deserve to die, He willingly came to earth as a man, lived a sinless life, and allowed Himself to be killed for a crime He did not commit. Three days after His death, God brought Him back to life. All that we have to do to be in community with God again is to accept the relationship that He offers each of us. That’s the gospel in a nutshell. Does it matter if it is presented through liturgy or with loud music and flashing lights? No. The message doesn’t change.

Can people really experience God by singing 300 year old songs? Sure they can. Maybe you can, maybe you can’t. Can the gospel be shared by using modern examples, like Superman? Sure it can. Maybe you like it, maybe you don’t. See, it’s really not about you in the end. It’s about God. God wants a restored relationship with every man, woman and child on the planet. Every one. Of course, that includes you. Everyone should find a church where they can connect with God and with other Christians. If modern music and a teaching style of presentation are what connects you to God, for heaven’s sake find a church that has modern music and a teaching style of presentation. But don’t get hung up on the little things. There are no perfect churches. Because churches are full of imperfect people. Like me. Like you.

The truth is, we don’t have a lot of time left to present the gospel. We don’t have time to get hung up on whether someone else is presenting the gospel in a way that appeals to us or not. As long as the gospel is being presented, I have to go along with the Apostle Paul on this one. “…the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.” ~ Philippians 1:18. We should be glad that the gospel is being presented with enough variety to appeal to a broad spectrum of people. Let’s remember our mission. Make disciples of all people. Even those who are a little different than we are.

Earlier this Spring, my wife and I stopped at Graceland on our way farther West. We toured the house and grounds, and, while I’m not a huge Elvis fan, it was very interesting to step into his life for a couple of hours. Toward the end of the tour we left the trophy room and went outside. As we rounded the corner of the trophy room on our way to Elvis’ grave, I noticed several ants running through the crack of the sidewalk. They were busily going about their everyday business, completely oblivious of the multitude of tourists stepping over them. One of my first thoughts was that I had paid to get into Graceland and here they were running about for free. I know that’s rather shallow, but that’s just the way I think sometimes. These ants had no idea that they were on the grounds of one of the most famous landmarks in America. Graceland has over 600,000 visitors each year, is one of the five most visited home tours in the United States, and is the most famous home in America after The White House.  And here were hundreds of ants just going about their business without once giving any little ant thoughts to where they were.

I think we do the same thing sometimes. As Christians, we live in another world. At the risk of sounding spooky, we live in another dimension. A spiritual dimension. We sometimes live as these ants do. We go about our daily routine without even once stopping to consider where we live. We take for granted that we are children of God. We take for granted the special privileges that we have because of our relationship with God. It’s become second nature for us. We’ve lived here for so long that we no longer stop to consider who we are or where we live. I’d like to take a couple of minutes to remind us ants of some of the privileges of living at Grace-land.

Prayer. Something so simple, and yet something so powerful, that we often take for granted. Personally, I’m not one of those guys who can pray for hours at a time. But I do pray consistently throughout the day and usually never stop to consider what it means to be able to communicate with God. I can personally talk to the creator of everything, and guess what? He even communicates back with me. How awesome is that, and yet, I tend to take prayer for granted. Ancient civilizations had all kinds of rituals that they hoped would allow them to communicate with their gods. Some relied on prophets to mediate between them and their gods.  The ancient Maya practiced bloodletting as a form of communication with their gods. All we have to do is speak. There is someone with the power to do anything that is asked of Him. And I know Him. And I ask a lot. What a privilege to be able to communicate with God.

Worship. We tend to place a lot of emphasis on celebrity in our culture. An opportunity to actually meet a celebrity in person is an experience that emotionally overwhelms some people. Yet too often we take for granted an opportunity to meet God in our worship. Those of us who have had the experience of discovering the presence of God in worship are often left hungry when our Sunday morning worship experiences fail to take us where our previous encounters have. And yet, we have an opportunity to come into the presence of God every day if we choose. We don’t have to wait for a Sunday worship service. In fact, some of my most memorable times of worship have not been in a church service. How often do we overlook the opportunity that we have to spend time with Almighty God? Do we realize what a privilege it is to be able to spend time with Him in our worship?

Grace. Grace is misunderstood by a lot of people because it’s not an intuitive response for many of us. Justice says we get what we deserve. Mercy says we don’t get what we deserve. Grace says we get what we don’t deserve. For a Christian, that means that not only do I not receive the punishment for my sin that I deserve, but I receive good things that I don’t deserve. I receive favor. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:12. Favor, according to the dictionary, is an attitude of approval or liking. What that means to us Christians is that God treats us as though he likes us, not just loves us. Those of us who have been married for a while can relate to this. While we were dating, we did everything right, because we wanted to impress our dates. We bought cards to send her for no reason at all. We bought her flowers just because. We took her on dates where she wanted to go. Even as newlyweds we treated our new spouse as though we not only loved them, but we liked them.  We did things for them that we didn’t have to do. We could get by with McDonald’s, but we opted for Olive Garden. We held hands. We watched shows on TV that they wanted to watch. Over time, as the newness wore off, we tended to become a little more selfish. We started to watch what we wanted to watch. We no longer buy flowers just because. We remember to buy cards the night before, or maybe the day of, our anniversary. Grace never wears off. God’s favor means that we get “flowers” for no reason at all. Maybe we get physical flowers, or maybe we get the parking spot right in front of our destination. Maybe we need a TV and find one that was ordered and never claimed and is being sold at half price. Maybe we drop a jar of mayonnaise from the top shelf and it hits the floor and doesn’t break. Maybe we deserve to die because of our sin and instead get to live forever. Grace. God’s way of giving us what we don’t deserve.

Hope. The best that a non-Christian can hope for is short-term successes.  I’m not saying that non-Christians are not successful. Most of the world’s richest people are not Christians. But what hope do they have for a future? None beyond themselves. Christians have hope beyond ourselves. And yet we tend to take it for granted. We will never die. Eternity is something that we can’t get our heads around, but we have hope because of it. We have hope for things that are beyond ourselves and our own abilities. The Bible says that “…we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” How often do we consider the hope that we have? How often do we consider what it means to have hope. We tend to take for granted that we do have a hope for not only our future, but our present.

There is so much more. The Bible. Consider that we have the Word of God readily available to us today more than at any other time in history. Church. A place to be challenged and loved. A place to worship with other believers. Peace. The knowledge that God is in control of every situation. Even those we don’t readily understand. God has our back.

Too many of us have lost the wonder and awe of being Christians. We’re no different from those who don’t know Christ. We complain about what we don’t have without realizing what we do have. We take for granted the presence of God. We take for granted communication with God. We take for granted life with God. We get so used to His favor, that we don’t even realize that it is favor anymore. We almost have an entitlement attitude.  How often do we go on about our lives without once thinking about where we live? We’re living in Grace-land. A land of God’s grace. We have been adopted by God. We are His children. Let’s get back the wonder and awe that is Christianity.

Some of us ‘Old Timers’ can remember the Time magazine cover in 1966 asking the question Is God Dead? It hardly seems possible, but things have changed so much since then that the question doesn’t even seem to be reasonable for 1966. And yet it is a question that many people, including some of us Christians, have asked at some point in our lives. We may not admit it to others, but quite a few of us who live our lives as Christians and embrace the teachings of Jesus have questioned the very existence of God. It is usually at some low point in life when we face something that we don’t understand. Something that doesn’t line up with what we believe about God or have been taught about Him. Sometimes we question our faith when it is challenged by others. When we can’t back up what we believe, or are hit with a valid question. One of those questions would be “Where was God when…..”

I will give you a couple of personal examples. Hopefully you won’t judge me too harshly. My wife and I got married when we were 19. Neither of us knew what we were doing, but I have come to the conclusion that Penny knew quite a bit more than I did about what we were getting into. Three months after we were married, I received the news that she was pregnant. At 19, I didn’t have a clue what that really meant for my life, but I was ignorantly blissful of the prospects of being a father. I had plans. My son would grow up to love music as I did. He would enjoy sports. I would have someone to teach the ways of manhood, to share life with, to go hunting, fishing, take to ballgames. He would be a football fan and we would watch the games together cheering for our team.

When my daughter was born, I was stunned. I hadn’t even chosen a girls name. I had no girl clothes. I had tons of boy things – baseball gloves, cars and trucks. A girl? Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Heather. I am not sorry that I had her and wouldn’t trade her for anything. After all, this was only the first child. I would give God another chance two years later. I chose a more popular boys name and told all of my friends about what my new son and I would do. All of the things I mentioned above.

When Kristen was born, I’ll admit I was more than a little baffled. I was downright angry at God. Twice? Again – I don’t want to give the impression that I love my children any less because they were not boys. I love them as much as I would have loved a boy. But they’re not boys. They didn’t go hunting or fishing with me. They did play football with me when they were young, much to the horror of Penny when she walked into the house and saw each girl sandwiched between two pillows with one of my belts holding the pillows on. That aside, they did not grow up to be the starting quarterback on their college team. They weren’t the boys that I imagined I would have.

Eight years later, we made the mistake of watching the movie “A Christmas Story” during the Christmas holiday. We decided that we really wanted a boy like Ralphie. We tried again. This time, I would do it right. I put my faith into action. I told all my friends about my son. Heather was going to name him Chester. I prayed and actually believed this time. There was no doubt that God was going to give me a son. And nine months later, Chelsea was born. This was one of my times to question. What about faith? What about prayer? What about favor? What about all of those things I was taught about how much God loved me? How He wanted me to be happy? How He cared for me. How if I prayed and believed He would give me the desires of my heart? If two of us agree concerning anything…

In early April 2003, I received a call from my mother. My Dad had been taken to the hospital. Nothing to worry about. He had stomach pain and they discovered that he had pneumonia. They were treating it. Nothing serious. After two weeks in the hospital, they discovered that they had mis-diagnosed. By this point, he had contracted sepsis, was on a ventilator and we were told that he would not recover. I knew otherwise. Jesus had raised people from the dead and Dad wasn’t even dead yet. God was going to heal him as a testimony to His greatness. All of the doctors would be astounded at his recovery. I would pray and he would get better. On April 25th 2003, the man who had been my inspiration to enter the ministry passed away. This was also one of my times to question. Where was God? I still get angry sometimes when people talk about a family member who was on the verge of death and God performed a miracle and healed them.

Of course, we tend to justify God’s actions when they don’t line up with what we want to believe. If we didn’t get the job we prayed for, God must have a better one in mind for us. If we get in an accident and aren’t killed, God was protecting us from dying. Never mind that we had the accident in the first place. If someone dies, they must have wanted to go, or it must have been God’s will. Ten years after the death of my father, I still have questions. But you know what I’ve discovered? It’s OK. Having faith does not mean that you don’t have questions too.

John the Baptist went around telling everyone that Jesus was the Messiah. He was the one they were waiting for. He even baptized Jesus and told that crowd that he (John) was not worthy to unlace the sandals of Jesus. John devoted his entire adult life to promoting the ministry of Jesus. To pointing people to Him as the Messiah. In Matthew 11, we find John in prison for standing up to Herod. I won’t go into the details of his imprisonment because it is irrelevant to this discussion. What is relevant is that after being in prison for two years, John sends some of his followers to ask Jesus a question. “Are you really the Messiah or should we look for someone else?” Sounds like John may have had a question or two himself doesn’t it? Shouldn’t he have asked that question before he told everyone that Jesus was the Messiah? I would have imagined that John would have had the answer to that question firmly in place before publicly proclaiming that Jesus was the Messiah. And yet he asks. It sounds like Johns faith may have been wavering too. After all, he had devoted much time and energy into setting Jesus up to take the stage. Plus, he wasn’t just another preacher. He was Jesus’ cousin. They were blood. Family. Why did Jesus allow John to sit in prison for standing up for the right thing. Surely, if Jesus was the Messiah, He would have rescued John by now. So John had questions. The same questions we have. We have also proclaimed that Jesus is the Messiah. The Son of God. And yet, we question why we face some things too. The death of a parent, or even the gender of a child. Maybe for you it was the loss of a job or a failed relationship.

I think that some of our questions go back to scriptures like I mentioned above, without looking at some of the other scriptures that talk about the other side of Christianity. We hear that if two agree as touching anything… it will be done for them. If we simply believe that we have what we pray for, God will give it to us. And yet, if we just pull those scriptures apart from the Bible as a whole, we lose the reality of Christianity. God is not our servant. We are His. Not that God doesn’t love us and want to do good things for us and give us good things, but that isn’t what Christianity is all about. It’s not about us. We want it to be, but it isn’t. Christianity is about other people. Jesus didn’t die for Himself. He died for others.

Sometimes, when you’re going through a tough time and don’t understand where God is, it’s in order to help someone else. In fact, some of us have been on the receiving end of this. Have you ever had a tough time, and then had someone approach you with a story of their own? My Mother in-law bought the house right across the street from us several years ago. A year later, she passed away. The house she had bought had not been set up right when it was purchased. Instead of Penny and I inheriting it, we discovered that it now belonged to all of her living relatives. Brothers, husband, grandchildren etc. We did however, inherit her house in Virginia. And the mortgage. And the 2nd mortgage. We suddenly found ourselves nearly half a million dollars in debt. Because our faith was strong, we never questioned God through all of this. Yeah, right. I questioned God on the way to work, during work and on the way home. I prayed and didn’t have any money show up in my mailbox. There was no miraculous debt reduction. But there was a miracle. About a week after we learned about the mix-up in finances, a friend approached us and said that she had been working a part-time job that she now had to give up. Were we interested in working for some extra money? You bet we were. The job paid $17 and hour, which was great money for a part-time job, and involved both Penny and I. It also involved 7 days a week. We worked until 5 at our regular jobs during the week, then went to our part-time jobs and worked until 9 PM. On Saturdays and Sundays, we each worked 8 hours both days. We had a part-time income that rivaled our full-time income. After two years, we were able to quit the part-time jobs. We had sold the house in Virginia, paid off the 2nd mortgage and owned the house across the street and were renting it. Did God answer my prayers? Not quite how I expected Him to. I didn’t expect to work my way out of it. I expected Him to miraculously change paperwork, or help me win a lottery that I didn’t play, or have another Christian approach me with a check and a story about how God had told him to give me some money….

Do I have a story to help others? I do. I also learned a lesson about finances that I hadn’t learned before. Of course, I didn’t think so at the time, but that time of my life has become one of the most rewarding. It is certainly one of the most memorable, and I am a better person for having endured it. And that’s the other reason that we go through things sometimes. We don’t tend to learn things as quickly if there are no consequences to us not learning it. I think this is the reason that James said “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” Tough times make us better people if we choose to apply what we have learned.

I’ve learned that everyone is going through something. Your something may not be as big a something as someone else’s something. Except to you. Know that whatever you are going through, you are not going through it alone. God is there even when it isn’t readily apparent. I still don’t have a son, but I have 3 grandsons. My father is not around, but I have his legacy and he’s still an inspiration to me. You will have a story to tell. Your story can be an inspiration to someone else. And God will teach you something through this. You will be a better person. If you choose to listen and learn.

I was perusing the web this week and noticed a few things that I found a little disturbing and sometimes even a little amusing. The anti-Christian crowd was out in force posting on Facebook and commenting on a few news articles as well. A couple of examples:

A Facebook post:

“Don’t pray in my school and I won’t think in your church”

A tweet about a prominent Pastor:

“@xxx – just read ur bio. u neglect to say ‘robbing people of 10% of their income and 100% of their brain’.”

More from Facebook:

“Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.” ~Mark Twain
“It is crazy how many people become millionaires and billionaires through peddling their imaginary friends.”

From an article on Christianity:

“One of the biggest problems Christians have is when they hear something they think sounds wonderful at church or in an apologetics book and make the huge and terrible mistake of not realizing that these arguments are for the choir, not for the outsiders peeking in through the church windows.”

That last comment really hits home. Why do people feel the need to criticize Christianity? Some of them have been hurt in the past by well-meaning Pastors and church members. However, while well-meaning people are some of the trouble, I believe that most of the issue lies with us. 1 Peter 3:15 says “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” I don’t think we’re always ready to give an answer. Why? Because I don’t think a lot of us know the answers. As the poster above so aptly stated, we sit in church on Sundays and listen to a message that most of us agree with, and we aren’t challenged to explain or question any of our beliefs. So we don’t know how. If the preacher didn’t speak about it this month, we don’t know anything about it. If the Pastor doesn’t give us an answer (that we can remember anyway) then we don’t have an answer for it.

As one of my previous posts pointed out, quite a few Christians don’t really know their Bible. Those that do, too often only know enough to sound ignorant – quoting verses out of context, or, even worse, using the Bible to spew hate-filled tirades against unbelievers. Sometimes I think we take the analogy of being sheep too literal. We rely on a “shepherd”, or Pastor, to feed us, not realizing that the shepherd’s job was and is not to feed the sheep. To maintain a large flock, sheep needed to be able to move from pasture to pasture; this required the development of an occupation separate from that of the farmer. The shepherd. The duty of shepherds was to keep their flock intact and protect it from wolves and other predators.

So the job of a shepherd was to protect the sheep and lead them to different pastures where they could eat, but not to feed them. Too often, we rely on a Pastor to feed us, when, in reality, it is his or her job to keep us intact and protect us. We should just be eating in the pasture where they lead us. They may lead us to their backyard – their area of knowledge or expertise. They may lead us to topics, or to specific verses in the Bible. It is then up to us to feed from those topics, those verses, or those areas of biblical knowledge. It is up to us to “study to show ourselves approved to God”. The Bible says that those who seek God diligently will find Him. If I told you that there was a million dollars buried in a certain field, would you dig a hole and then give up searching if you didn’t find it in that hole? I don’t think so. You would dig another, then another until every inch of that field was dug, or until you found the money.

You see, too often, we dig one hole in searching for God’s truth. We go to church and listen to the Pastor expecting him to deliver the truth to us instead of searching for it diligently. Sometimes we find some truth in the Pastor’s weekly or bi-weekly message and that suffices us. I would say that would be like digging a hole and finding $100 and quitting because it was enough.

The Bible says that “iron sharpens iron”, yet too often we are trying to sharpen iron with wood. The reason iron sharpens iron is because as the two pieces of hard and unrelenting metal strike against each other, a little of each is shaved away in the process. Eventually, the edges become sharp. What happens when you strike iron against wood? It simply chisels away at the wood, never affecting the iron. So how do we sharpen ourselves? By striking against something as hard as we are. By challenging our way of thinking. By discussing things that make us defend our faith.

I think we have to become real sheep, not domesticated zoo animals that have to be hand-fed by a zookeeper. We need to become sheep that are discerning even in our own shepherd’s field. Do you believe everything that your Pastor preaches? Why or why not? My Pastor tells us to challenge him. To prove his teachings by comparing what he teaches with the Bible.  Don’t believe everything he says simply because he says it. While that sounds nearly blasphemous to some, it is healthy Christianity. You need to know why you believe what you believe, and the answer cannot be “because my Pastor said so”. That will not win unbelievers to the kingdom. Just re-read the posts above to see that I’m telling you the truth.

I challenge you to challenge yourself. Challenge your thought process. When taking notes during your Pastor’s message, make note of anything he says that you think needs verification. Then verify it later. Look up scriptures he references, then read them in context to make sure that what he says is what God intended. Get involved in a small group in your church. I personally think that this is the best way to sharpen yourself. It gives you an opportunity to discuss your beliefs with others who believe the same way you do, but who may approach those beliefs differently. It also offers the occasional opportunity to face a thought or an idea with which you do not believe. That provides you an opportunity to sharpen yourself by having to defend your beliefs, but not face hostility.

So what are you? A sheep, or a domesticated pet? Do you require hand-feeding, or will you feed yourself where your shepherd leads you? It really comes down to this: Are you always ready to give an answer to anyone who asks what you believe? Could you defend your faith to someone who believes differently than you do? Not just argue a point, but convince them through the skillful use of the Word of God? And use it correctly? This is our mandate from Christ. Sharpen yourself and become the sheep you were meant to be!

I have been a musician nearly my entire life. I began taking piano lessons when I was five years old. As most children do, I despised having to practice and gave up the piano for a brief time in my early teens. Once I hit high school I began playing again on my own. It was different playing under my own rules. I could practice or not practice. However, once I joined a rock band in high school, I discovered that what I really wanted to do was to play the guitar.

I eventually picked up an off-brand guitar and began teaching myself to play. In my 20′s I was able to purchase a Fender Strat and began trying to learn some lead licks off the radio. I never became proficient on guitar until about 3 or 4 years ago. After a lot of years of just playing around with the guitar I began really trying to play. I purchased a book and DVD that gave me some lessons, and then two years ago I realized my dream of owning a Gibson Les Paul guitar. It’s a beautiful Silverburst, has a great tone and feels wonderful. I’m still not a professional guitar player, but I have come to know the joy of playing guitar.

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I had the opportunity to tour Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. I’ll admit that I am not a huge Elvis fan, but I do like history, and touring Graceland was a pretty cool thing to be able to do. We toured the main house and grounds, the racquetball court, which is now full of trophies, and Elvis’ trophy room, which is a separate building. As we viewed the many displays of Elvis’ costumes and memorabilia, something caught my attention. It was a beautiful 1964 Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar. As a guitar player, I thought the guitar was beautiful. In fact, my first thought was “What a beautiful guitar!” Then I realized where it was: behind glass. My first thought was quickly replaced by “What a shame!”

I envisioned a Disney-esque scenario where the guitar could speak and could express emotion. I imagined that this guitar was created in a factory that made similar guitars. After its creation, it had dreams of being played by someone great; on a stage before thousands of people. When it was purchased by Elvis, it had its dreams realized as Elvis played it in his concerts. It felt a sense of well-being and accomplishment. It felt pride at being played skillfully and also at how well it sounded.

After the death of Elvis, the guitar was eventually put on display. At first, I imagined that the guitar said to itself “Look at all of these people coming to see me!” This went beyond that guitars dreams of being seen by thousands of people. Now it had millions of people coming to view it behind the glass. Eventually however, I imagine that the guitar began to get a little frustrated. No one was playing it. It was created to make music, not to just be viewed from a distance and be kept behind a glass enclosure. Did the guitar pride itself in its appearance? Sure it did. It was a great looking guitar. But it was not created with the intention of only looking good. Its appearance was secondary to its purpose. Now I imagined the guitar becoming angry, dejected, suffering from depression and eventually dying behind that glass enclosure. Why? Because it was not doing what it was created to do. It no longer made music.

I’m sure that it’s not difficult for most of you to figure out what I’m getting at here. You were created for a purpose. For some of you it was also to make music. Some of you were created to talk to others about the Gospel. Talking comes easy for you. For others, it may be hosting those who are comfortable talking. Hospitality comes easy for you. You’re comfortable putting together events and gatherings. Some of you were called to preach or teach. And yet you’re stuck behind glass. You may even have a title or position at church. At first, it was nice. You received recognition. People knew your name. But now, you’re realizing that you were created for a purpose. And this isn’t it.

At some point, nearly all of us will come to the realization that life isn’t what we imagined it to be. Like Jimmy Stewart in It’s A Wonderful Life, we had plans. We had dreams. We had a purpose. And unless you are one of the few fortunate people who grew up to make a living doing what you enjoy doing, you have experienced some level of disappointment at how your life turned out. You’re stuck behind glass.

I had a dream of entering full-time ministry, yet even after realizing that dream, I came to the stunning realization that being in the ministry was not what I had envisioned all those years. My purpose was to touch people, which didn’t necessarily mean that I had to be in full-time ministry. Or even part-time for that matter. I had misconstrued ministering with ministry. I thought that in order to touch the most people, I had to be in a position. Have a title. And yet, even after I had those things, I was stuck behind glass.

After many years of internal struggle between what I thought I wanted and what my purpose is, I made an important discovery: my purpose. You see, I am not a preacher. But I am a teacher. I’m a trainer. I’m an encourager. And I don’t need a title, or a position, or a platform to be those things. In fact, my specific purpose is really to be a missionary to the church. What my position taught me is that there are multitudes sitting in churches all over the country every week who have no idea what it means to be a Christian. To live a Christian life. To have faith in God. To trust. Don’t get me wrong. They believe. Or at least they believe that they believe. But they don’t really know why they believe. They’re stuck in religion. They don’t understand how to relate to God outside of rules or ritual or without someone telling them specifically what to do. My purpose, as daunting as it seems, is to help Christians discover God apart from religion. To really know God for themselves. To become self-feeders of the Word of God. To grow in their knowledge, faith and relationship with God. Now that I know my purpose, I have come out from behind the glass. I’m content. Not always happy, often frustrated, but content nonetheless.

What is your purpose? Are you stuck behind glass watching the world pass in front of you and knowing that this is not what you were created to do? Few of us will hear God call us like He did Samuel. How do you discover your purpose? First of all, pray. It seems simple, but ask God what His plan for you is. Then listen for an answer. It may come through reading the Bible, or through a friend who notices something you do well, or even through watching a movie or TV show. God is not limited in how He communicates with us.

Second, take a spiritual gifts test. There are several available online and I would suggest taking several and comparing the results. Something to remember is that your spiritual gifts will probably not surprise you. If you are stingy with your money and time and your spiritual gifts inventory says that you have the gift of giving, something is wrong. Retake the test and answer the questions honestly this time. On the other hand, you may not recognize that a spiritual gift is a gift. It will be something that comes natural to you. My wife, Penny, is an organizer and has the gift of hospitality. It’s easy for her to put together a party for 200 people without giving it too much thought or effort. It comes natural. Her gift of hospitality was not  recognizable to her because she assumed that everyone could do what she does, given enough time and training. The fact is, if I attempted to do what she does, people would leave the party early and hungry. It’s a gift, not a talent.

Third, ask others. Your gift may not be easily recognizable to you, but may be to others. Especially those who are closest to you. Ask friends and family what they think you do well. Remember that these are opinions and should only be used to reinforce what the first two steps already support. Again – don’t rely heavily on the opinions of others, but use them as a resource on your journey to discover your purpose.

My hope is that each of you who find yourself behind glass will find the courage to break the glass and step out into your purpose. If that guitar could, I’m sure that it would choose to be played rather than be displayed. Step into your purpose and begin to make the music that God intended for you when He created you with a purpose.