So this is me thinking out loud about all that’s been going on with the news of revival at Asbury University. At first, I was completely and uncritically onboard because that’s what I’ve been thinking this country needs is a revival.

I’ve read some things that have got me thinking. Maybe I need to be more discerning. Maybe I need to do like it says in 1 John 4:1 and test the spirit to see if it’s really from God. After all, there are a lot of things that look like they’re from God, sound like they’re from God, but don’t line up with God’s word.

I’m not saying the revival’s a fake.

I am saying that it’s easy to be led astray when we base the entirety of something based on experiences and emotions rather than on whether it lines up doctrinally with the Bible.

I would love nothing more than for a true awakening that involves real confession of sin and repentance. I would love nothing more than to witness large scale people coming to Christ.

I also know that so many of us get bored with the routine and want to chase the next experience, the next emotional fix, the next rollercoaster event. It’s easier to get worked up into a spiritual frenzy than do to the hard work of life change that comes through genuine repentance.

It’s interesting that in the Bible there’s a group of people that tested everything and everyone against the word of God — even the teachings of the Apostle Paul himself! Sadly, we’ve become way less discerning in the present age and even get upset if anyone dares to ask questions, regardless of motive.

I’ve been known to be wishy washy about things and flip flop on what I feel about things. In this case, I want to be spiritually discerning based on what I see over time, not just in a moment of ecstasy and rapture. I want this revival to be real, but I also want it to be biblical.

I read something that struck me. It said that “our hope isn’t in the return of Christian culture. Our hope is in the return of Christ.”

Now that I can get on board with.

“Dear refuge of my weary soul, 
On Thee, when sorrows rise 
On Thee, when waves of trouble roll, 
My fainting hope relies 
To Thee I tell each rising grief, 
For Thou alone canst heal 
Thy Word can bring a sweet relief, 
For every pain I feel 

But oh! When gloomy doubts prevail, 
I fear to call Thee mine 
The springs of comfort seem to fail, 
And all my hopes decline 
Yet gracious God, where shall I flee? 
Thou art my only trust 
And still my soul would cleave to Thee 
Though prostrate in the dust 

Hast Thou not bid me seek Thy face, 
And shall I seek in vain? 
And can the ear of sovereign grace, 
Be deaf when I complain? 
No still the ear of sovereign grace, 
Attends the mourner’s prayer 
Oh may I ever find access, 
To breathe my sorrows there

Thy mercy seat is open still, 
Here let my soul retreat 
With humble hope attend Thy will, 
And wait beneath Thy feet, 
Thy mercy seat is open still, 
Here let my soul retreat 
With humble hope attend Thy will, 
And wait beneath Thy feet”

Chalk up yet another hymn from yesteryear that I only recently discovered. In this case, I was today years old when I read these words that speak a better word about God’s promise to be a safe haven for all who call on Him in faith.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all about some modern worship songs, but there’s something about a tried and trusted hymn that has stood the test of time that can speak to my soul about the truths and promises of God like nothing else can outside of Scripture.

I am forgetful and fearful and need to be reminded daily (and sometimes hourly) of how God can still find me and save me no matter where I am. We need to remind each other every chance we get to keep each other persevering in the faith and to keep each other from giving up instead of holding on.

I believe there is a recent version of this hymn by the group Harvest Collective. Here’s the link if you want to check it out:

It must be hard to be a feline. I mean all these people want to pick you up and cuddle you all the time. People want to stroke your soft fur non stop. Plus, there are so few hours in the day to get in all the prerequisite napping and laying around that cats like to do.

In the cat world, staying awake is apparently a chore. It’s so much easier to just let your eyes close and let the nap take over. Honestly, have you ever seen a cat with insomnia? Have you ever witnessed a cat who couldn’t sleep? Not me.

My cat Peanut would probably get in a lot more napping if it weren’t for all those meddling people — especially me. Sometimes, she’s the Greta Garbo of the feline world — she just wants to be left alone so she can sleep and dream of endless tuna and boneless chickens.

The cat life is so tough.

So apparently sometimes you can go back.

It’s been roughly a year and a half since the last Kairos retreat at Willow Pond, but here I am here again.

This time instead of sleeping on a love seat in the basement, I’m in an actual bed in an upstairs bedroom. It’s glorious.

It’s also an almost entirely new cast of characters this time around. There are very few of us left from the last time. But that’s okay.

The hope is to refresh and renew as we seek God’s heart on the future direction of Kairos. Plus, a periodic change of scenery is good for the soul.

God is good, and I am tired. Good night, everyone.

So apparently sometimes you can go back.

It’s been roughly a year and a half since the last Kairos retreat at Willow Pond, but here I am here again.

This time instead of sleeping on a love seat in the basement, I’m in an actual bed in an upstairs bedroom. It’s glorious.

It’s also an almost entirely new cast of characters this time around. There are very few of us left from the last time. But that’s okay.

The hope is to refresh and renew as we seek God’s heart on the future direction of Kairos. Plus, a periodic change of scenery is good for the soul.

God is good, and I am tired. Good night, everyone.

I didn’t used to like naps. Back in the day when I was a small fry, I used to have to take naps, so I did everything I could to avoid them. I’d fake being asleep so I wouldn’t get in trouble, but I didn’t really and truly nap.

Now I wish I had rollover minutes for all those naps I pretended to take or outright skipped. These days those naps that I had to take but didn’t want to are one of my favorite parts of the day.

There’s nothing like a good nap on a dreary rainy Sunday afternoon. It’s a great feeling when you lie down at first not thinking you’ll really be able to fall asleep only to wake up an hour later like no time at all has passed. I must be getting old because I can pretty much count on my naps lasting just around an hour, even without an alarm to wake me up.

I do think part of good spiritual discipline is the ability to rest. God designed the Sabbath as a reminder that no one was meant to go 24/7 perpetually. Unlike my childhood, naps aren’t required. You can read a good book or listen to music or talk a walk outside or just sit and think.

But in my opinion, nothing beats a good nap when you’re weary.

That’s the best answer I’ve ever heard to the question of why bad things happen to good people. Honestly, none of us are good people. We are fallen people living in a fallen world. It’s not a pleasant or popular truth, but it’s true.

None of us are good enough to save ourselves. None of us are good enough to please God on our own. None of us — including me — deserve anything other than hell.

If we’re honest, we want a lot of what’s not good for us. We think a lot of thoughts that don’t qualify as good. We don’t have to be taught as little children how to be selfish and vengeful and bad. We’re born with a bent toward sin from the very beginning.

But Jesus took all the bad we deserved upon Himself. He actually volunteered to take our place. He took all the wrath of God that we deserved on that cross at Calvary and gave us the goodness that we could never hope to have left to ourselves.

It’s interesting that when the rich young ruler called Him Good Teacher, Jesus response was, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God.” In essence, Jesus was disqualifying Himself from merely being a good moral example and teacher. Either He’s God in the flesh or He’s not good.

And as it turns out, He’s our only hope.

“God is the only comfort. He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies. Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again. They are still only playing with religion. Goodness is either the great safety or the great danger—according to the way you react to it. And we have reacted the wrong way. . . . Of course, I quite agree that the Christian religion is, in the long run, a thing of unspeakable comfort. But it does not begin in comfort; it begins in the dismay I have been describing, and it is no use at all trying to go on to that comfort without first going through that dismay. In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth—only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair” (C. S. Lewis).

I think of what Jesus said that in this world we will have suffering and trouble. It’s not a matter of if but when. It would have been so much nicer if Jesus has said something along the lines of how in this world we will have kittens or bunnies or rainbows or perpetual sunshine. But He didn’t.

The fact is that we live in a beautiful but broken world. We live in a fallen society and to be adjusted to a sick society is to be sick yourself. Nothing works like it’s supposed to work, especially us. God wants us eventually to be happy, but I believe more than that He wants us to be holy and whole. And the way to get to Christlikeness isn’t through comfort but most often through discomfort and pain and sometimes suffering.

I guess the closest analogy I can think of is working out and getting in shape. Usually, both of those involve being extremely sore the next day. I never knew anyone who lost weight and got into shape by only doing what made them feel comfortable and good. But the end result is always worth the effort and the pain.

What God is making us into involves the same kind of discomfort and pain, but the end result is so much better than simply having a better physical body that will still wear down and get old in the end. God’s end goal is us looking like Jesus and coming into all that He created us to be. That’s worth any amount of sacrifice or suffering.

I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I’m ready for Lent to start. I’m ready to begin my social media fast.

I’m in no way fed up with Facebook or done with Instagram. I actually love interacting with friends and seeing all the funny and creative gifs. There’s so much on there that can keep me occupied for hours and hours . . .

And there’s the problem. Lent is when I get my time back. Lent is me having more time to pray, to meditate, to sit still in the silence, to just be. I break my habit of picking up my devices every five minutes to see the latest posts or to see who liked my last offering.

I don’t get nearly as anxious from social media as I used to, but Lent is still a time for me to breathe more freely and to slow down and savor the moments of life more. I can actually pick up those things with pages called books and actually read one. Or two.

It’s where I make margin in my day and room in my thoughts to hear from God. My mind is less cluttered, less frantic, and more filled with peace and joy.

Some people fast from television. Some from sweets. Some, like me, from social media. It’s beautiful to be able willingly to sacrifice for a season to make room for God’s presence and God’s voice. I can’t pretend to understand all the ramifications from fasting, but I know that it is God-honoring and God honors those who honor Him.

Even if you don’t choose to do a Lent fast, I encourage you to take time away from phones and devices and social media and all things electronic. Give your brain time to rest and refresh. Go out in nature and enjoy what God has made. All that Facebook stuff will still be there when you get back.

I confess that I didn’t watch any of this year’s Grammy award ceremony except for the one tribute to Christine McVie and all the other musicians we lost this year. I didn’t see the infamous part where Sam Smith wore a top hat with devil horns on it.

I’ve often wondered why believers get so riled up when lost people act . . . well, lost. Why do we expect people who don’t know Jesus and don’t have the Holy Spirit inside of them to live Christian lives? Do we think that the Christian faith is merely about having better morals and nothing else?

I’m not suggesting that we should endorse music or movies that promote evil. I am suggesting that maybe we also don’t need to promote it by constantly drawing attention to it and going on about how horrible it was and how deeply offended we were by it.

Wouldn’t we be better off to promote the positive aspects of our faith instead? People aren’t drawn to Christ by learning what we’re against but what and who we’re for.

These are just my own thoughts. I don’t speak for anyone else. I admit that I could be wrong and I’m willing to keep an open mind. I know that Jesus loves Sam Smith and Kim Petras as much as He loves me or anyone else. I know that God is not willing that either of them should perish and be lost but that both of them come to repentance and saving faith in Jesus.

That’s what I’m really hoping and praying for.