To All the Revolutionaries

For to me to live is Christ.

The passion of the young man was evident as he took his place in line. Just a moment earlier there had a been a stirring message filled with visions of glory and full throated exclamations of allegiance from thousands of youth. Their voices seemed to move the very foundation of the building as they cried in unison.

Under a shrouded night sky he milled with the group as they moved back to their hotel. There was an expectation, no, even more so, a promise and assurance of life at a greater level. A striving for a purpose no one could replace or take from them.

…to die is gain.

And yet the future wasn’t safer or clearer. The unknowns still rose up on both sides. What would people say to him? How would they react? Could he really live out what he had said he would? How would life change for him?

But with the unknowns came a known that was supreme and lit up his future like a sunrise. The God who knew his name had called him and would never, ever let him fall. And one thought fueled the joy burning inside:

Life verses even more life! I can’t lose. Philippians 1:21

Reinventing Invention

For all we credit ourselves to creating nowadays, it’s interesting to realize how much of it has already been done. I was just checking out Harold Camping’s latest prediction of the end of the world and found out that even that has already been done. Many times!

It seems that in a world that is ever changing, all we see around us is just a rerun. When the knowledge that someone else has faced our struggles and situations really hits us, we realize we know the One who has been through it all. In fact John 1:1-3 shows us how Jesus had his hand in creating EVERYTHING! We’re talking about the ‘original’ inventor.

So then we come to the time when life gets crazy and trust runs thin. For many of us it’s the point where we say It feels like you don’t love me, God, so I don’t feel like loving you. But let me encourage you to adopt the theme of the writer of Lamentations who was having the worst time ever (skin wasting away, broken bones, pulverized kidneys and such)- Lamentations 3:21-26

“The Lord is my portion-I’m sticking with God!”

Do You Belong?

Do you belong? To what do you belong? a family? an organization? a community? Belonging is a part of our human make up. All of us want to belong somewhere, to something. Belonging to something greater than ourselves brings a sense of purpose and fulfillment, an opportunity to contribute to the greater good, a sense of responsibility.
Belonging is really about relationships. It is sharing a journey together with others of like beliefs and similar goals. There is nothing better in life than to develop a relationship, even just one, that will remain steadfast through the years and trials of life.
There is one that sticks closer than a brother. I have found him to be faithful when the journey is arduous. When I am uncertain, I look to his reassuring confidence. When I am weak and tired and have had enough, he quietly reminds me of why I do what I do. He is my mentor and he is my friend. His name is Jesus. He is all about relationships. How about you?

Let Everything That Has Breath Praise The Lord

It occurs to me that most don’t appreciate exactly what they have or what they’re able to do until they either no longer have it or can no longer do it.

Take for instance the scripture in Psalms 150 where it says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” Most days, weeks, months and years of our lives, we skate right by this scripture not appreciating the meaning or ability to do it until we can no longer do it, such as people with Emphysema, Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or Pulmonary Embolisms. These disorders and medical conditions hinder and constrict people from breathing properly and easily and can include people who would like to raise their voices in praising God but simply can’t because they literally can’t breath deep enough and don’t have enough breath. These respiratory obstructive disorders make living Psalms 150 much, much harder to do than the rest of us who can breathe normally.

Also, this scripture skates right by us most days, weeks, months and years of our lives because we don’t live in restrictive countries and places that oppose Christianity and forbid the teaching and practicing thereof, to the point of imprisonment, torture or death.

We have freedoms that most of us take for granted most days, weeks, months and years of our lives.

It seems to me that if we’re healthy and living in a country that allows our expression of praise to The Lord, then every day of our lives should be spent practicing the praises of our God. And before the crowds cheer someone kicking a ball through the uprights or crossing the goal line into the end zone, churches on Sundays and Saturday nights should sound like huge stadiums, filled with people cheering The Lord our God with loud, lavished and long praises for who He is and what He’s already done for us.

If you love where you live and appreciate the ability to breathe, then let everything that has breath praise The Lord.

Starting Block Funk

I remember running track in 8th grade and working on getting the hang of starting blocks.  At first it was weird getting down in the crouch and trying to blast out of them, but in the end I wasn’t fast enough to run any races that required starting blocks!

In C. S. Lewis’ book That Hideous Strength he says:

“You do not fail in obedience through lack of love, but have lost love because you never attempted obedience.”

It’s a strong statement regarding the state of the church.  One popular thought today is to do what you’re passionate about.  The only thing is no one ever gets the message that there will come a point when the passion runs out… then what are you left with?

Revelations 2:4 tells us “You have forsaken your first love.”  It’s almost like we sign up, put in the practice, and set ourselves in our starting blocks.  But then we quit when we see how hard it’s going to be and never get out of the blocks!

So today let me encourage you today to step out in obedience, because when you do then you will truly discover your passion and fall in love with the Maker who created you to do just that.

This is the Day

 Today is the day the Lord has made! Each day is new and filled with opportunities! What we do with these opportunities says a lot about who we are and what we believe. We are encouraged through scripture to be very careful to make the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:15-16). We can ill-afford to allow the enemy of our souls to gain a foothold in our lives by deceiving us into thinking that what we choose does not matter.
There is a time for everything under Heaven (Ecclesiastes 3). Each of us are at a different point in time in our lives, but one common thread binds us together: making the most of the opportunities the Lord presents to us to join together for His purposes.
The Bible is clear, each of us has a purpose and a function in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12). When a part of our physical body does not function properly, it affects the whole body. In the same way, when a part of our spiritual body does not function as it should, it affects everyone else. Unlike the physical body, each member of the spiritual body is responsible to function as the Lord directs. We must not fail to function in a biblical manner toward one another.
Today, your day is filled with opportunities. Opportunities to build up or tear down, to be silent or to speak, to scatter or to gather, to search or to give up… your opportunities are great! Let’s make the most of them for the glory of the Lord!

Friendly Fire

When the allied forces of the United States and Canada invaded Afghanistan shortly after 9/11, 2001, a US fighter accidentally bombed four Canadian soldiers, killing all of them.  The understandable outcry was, “How can something like that happen,” when we are supposed to be on the same side, the same team, fighting the same good fight together? While the devil was in the details of miscommunication and pilot human error, the results remained the same: four dead Canadian soldiers and an embarrassed United States Defense department. The unfortunate event was labeled a “Friendly Fire” incident.  Certainly not the first time such has happened in the “fog of war” and probably not the last time that it will. The point is, it shouldn’t have ever happened in the first place, because we were on the same side, fighting the same good fight. We were and are not enemies. Therefore, we should not be shooting at or bombing one another. For if too many “friendly fire” incidents happen, who needs an enemy to do the work of killing when we, the allies, are killing off one another ourselves?

The same could be said of people in The Church who (some lie in wait to) shoot at and snipe at one another across pews, congregations and denominational lines, mostly over differences of opinion and personal preferences. It’s damaging enough when it happens to such an extent within a congregation. Many have eventually split, dissected and divided over such things. Some have eventually all but died because of too many “friendly fire” incidents. It gets worse and magnified when so-called Christian media personalities, some of whom with gross misinformation do so on their radio, web sites and TV programs: misinforming, misleading, misguiding and influencing thousands of otherwise innocent believers into the trap of “friendly fire.”

Like the friendly fire incident in Afghanistan, most incidents within the Church happen because of bad or incomplete information: parts of statements truncated and taken way out of context, and then the simple yet tragic human error of running way too far way too fast and being way too quick to shoot and bomb (to their face or behind their back) those who are on the same side and within the same fellowship of The Lord Jesus Christ.

As a Pastor for almost 20 years, having witnessed such “friendly fire” incidents within the Church both up close and personal and vicariously within Christian media, and having had a radio program that ran for 10 years,  I wonder, when are we going to stop shooting ourselves (in public or in private)? When is the name of Jesus Christ and being Born Again by his Holy Spirit going to be enough? How and when did identifying Christianity become so complicated? When did allowing for differences and diversities in the body of Christ according to 1 Corinthians 8 go away? When did we become so arrogant, affluent and impressed with our own image that we say, “Everyone has to do it my way”? When did we forget that that which is old now was once a new way of doing ministry? When did we become so near-sighted and narcissistic that some have misquoted scriptures to validate their own musical preferences and song styles? When did we become so mean-spirited that not having all the (accurate) information about something or someone justified shooting at another Christian anyway?  When did we become so arrogant as to expect so much perfection in others, yet so little of ourselves?  While I absolutely believe in sound teaching and accurate doctrine that centers on God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, who exists for the eternal life of people (that would be you, me and others), when did we forget the admonishment of the Spirit through Paul in 1 Timothy 1:4 and Titus 3:9 about “avoiding foolish arguments about doctrinal differences and the law (including endless genealogies) because they are unprofitable” (most of which always happens in public because someone thinks they’re absolutely right and has to prove it at the expense of others)?   The intention of this teaching in Titus and Timothy is to focus on The Lord Jesus Christ as the main and sole doctrine for salvation. When did that become so unsatisfying and hard?

Many said after that “friendly fire” incident in Afghanistan, “How could that ever have happened?” The greater question for all Christians is: with too many friendly fire incidents within the church, who needs the enemy when we’re doing the enemy’s job for him? When we do this, we kill the perception of Christianity and embarrass ourselves in the process. We’re all on the same team, the same side, fighting the same good fight. Just as there was enough room in the deserts of Afghanistan, there is enough room in Christ for all of us. Stop shooting each other. We’re not the enemy.