faith

Forgetful

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 3 Comments

I am quite forgetful sometimes.

Sometimes, I will walk into a room and forget why I went there. Sometimes, I forget I even had a reason for going to that particular room.

I’ve even intended to write myself a note to remind myself of something, only to forget what it was that I was supposed to write down.

I can go to a rousing worship event and be challenged and blessed and motivated and the next day forget when I get bogged down by the everyday details of life.

I can forget how blessed I am and become bitter and resentful of others who have what I think I need right now.

Most of all, I forget who I am and Whose I am.

I listen to the voices that tell me that I’m just not good enough and I’ve only been faking it and it’s only a matter of time before the people around me catch on and expose me.

I  forget that I am Abba’s child and that He is very fond of me. I sometimes feel like I am flunking the school of life and forget that in Jesus I have already overcome and I am more than a conqueror.

I need to be reminded of a Love stronger than death, stronger than my failures and my frustrations and my forgetfulness. I need to be reminded that even when I don’t feel God, I am still held in His everlasting arms.

I need to be reminded that God still works all things together for my good and that He will finish what He started in me.

I bet you do, too.

That’s why we gather together. To remind each other of how blessed we really are. To encourage each other and speak blessing and truth into each other’s lives. So that when my faith is small, you can believe for me, and when your faith is small, I can believe for you.

We need the reminder that we can’t do this life alone. That the enemy’s goal is to get me separated from the community of faith where I am alone and vulnerable.

The best part is that as prone as we are to forget, God is as gracious to remind us of just how big and strong and good He is.

Jesus Is Lord

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 7 Comments

I saw two sisters get baptized today. Both had waited a while after their salvation experiences to be baptized. I can relate to that. It took from the time I got saved at age 7 until I was 18 to get baptized.

Both had a similar testimony when asked to share their story. Both said, “Jesus is Lord.”

Those three little words say so much more than most 5-minute testimonies do.

It says that my life is not my own, for I have been bought with a price. I’m not the one in charge of my life anymore. Jesus is.

It says that if Jesus is my Lord, I take Him with me wherever I go and in whatever I do. Hopefully, that will make me think about some of the places I go and what I do, whether in public or private.

It means it’s not up to me anymore to make my life make sense and to get my messes cleaned up and my future all figured out. Jesus promised He would give us a hope and a future and never leave or forsake us and finish what He started in us.

It means that I won’t be ashamed of Him when it comes my time to speak up for Him. It means that I realize that those who ridicule and blaspheme Him need Him every bit as much as I do and are just as hopeless without Him as I once was.

It means that my question to whatever Jesus asks of me from here on out will always be a resounding YES.

It means that no matter how many times before that I’ve tried and failed to live right and follow Jesus and not get caught up in every other agenda, that Jesus’ forgiveness is still available to me and I still get another chance to start over.

It means that it won’t be me trying harder to do better, but knowing that the power that raised Jesus from the dead is in me and that my hope is Jesus in me,  transforming me daily into the person He always meant for me to be.

It means that everything else in my life must bow to His authority. My money, my time, my career, my politics, my relationships, and my life belong to Him and are His to do with whatever He wants.

It means civil disobedience if the government asks me to violate what I believe in and to always stand up for those Jesus stood up for– the outcast, the poor, the broken and the needy.

In some parts of the world, saying “Jesus is Lord” is signing your own death warrant. To choose Christ and not Allah or Caesar or Karl Marx is to be cut off from family and jobs and in many cases, to lose your life. But it means finding that the only way to truly save your life is to lose it.

That’s only some of what it means to say those three little words: Jesus is Lord.

 

 

Thoughts on The Hunger Games

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 4 Comments

I saw The Hunger Games last night. I believe that leaves two people on the planet who have not seen the movie. I am a bit behind on these things, but eventually I figure them out. One day I may tackle this whole “world wide inter-web” thing.

The premise is that there is a country called Panem with 12 districts. Once, these districts rebelled and were summarily squashed. As punishment, each district must send two tributes, one male and female, each between 12-18 years old, to fight to the death until only one remains.

I was reminded again how foolish it is to trade freedom for security. To trade inalienable rights for immediate needs. Kinda like when Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of soup.

When we give any government enough power to give us everything we want, we also risk that same government taking away everything we have. In exchange, we get told how to raise our children and how to run our businesses.

This is not about how one political party is right and the other wrong. This is about keeping your eyes wide open to what’s going on around you. To getting the facts before you jump to conclusions. To making informed choices at the voting booth.

The Bible tells us to be innocent as doves and wise as serpants, to know the times, and to trust not human beings, but only God.

Ultimately, we as believers can’t forget that our hope is not in a President or Congress or a revamped judicial system or new Supreme Court justices, but in a King and a Kingdom.

We’re not called to take back a country, but to help usher in a new kingdom– the Kingdom of God that will never end and will see wrongs made right and justice prevailing at last.

I love that in the movie what ultimately wins is being willing to lay down your life for another. After all, greater love has no man than he is willing to lay down his life for his friends.

That reminds me of another story. The greatest story ever told.

Friday Is a Good Thing

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

I don’t think Fridays will ever get old for me. Knowing that the work week is over and that I have a few days of my own is a good feeling. Especially after you have one of those no-good, very bad days that you’re lucky to survive with most of your hair and wits still about you.

I like to think of Heaven as one long Friday, knowing that all the hard stuff and the bad stuff is over and the good stuff, the best stuff, begins and never ends.

C.S. Lewis in his Chronicles of Narnia described Heaven as the the feeling you get on the first day after the school term is over and vacation has begun. That has always resonated with me more than any imagery about Heaven.

Sometimes, the only way you can get through a trial or an ordeal is the knowledge that at some point it will end. It won’t last forever and you won’t be consumed by it.

Take heart. That day is coming, even if you can’t see it or feel it. Even if you’ve all but lost any hope for an end to your pain and suffering and tribulation.

As certain as every week has a Friday in it, the end will come. Again, C.S. Lewis made it come alive to me when He described all of history as the title page and preface to the book, and Heaven is the actual story where each chapter is better than the last and there is no ending.

It’s not an end, but the true beginning that goes on forever.

Heaven’s not just some far away place in a distant time, but it’s wherever God breaks through and shows up in power. It’s wherever God is truly present in His people and where two or more are gathered in His name.

So, I say without any hint of sacrilige, “THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY!”

Thursdays are Good Again

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Thursdays usually don’t get much respect. They’re always the day before Friday, which gets all the credit for being for being the start of the weekend.

But for me, Thursdays are good again.

I particupate in Kairos Roots, a Thursday Bible Study for those who want to go deeper into God’s Word and God’s community. I am a table leader, which means I facilitate discussion. In simple terms, I ask a question or two and sit back and watch and learn.

Mike Glenn, the main speaker at Kairos, a related Bible Study on Tuesdays, always says that as a believer you need three things– worship, service, and community. I need community because the first person I lie to is me.

I’ve found that sitting at the table, someone next to me or across from me may have a different way of looking at a verse or a doctrine or an application. They may have an insight I’d never thought of before. Something I say may have an impact on someone else, although it seems I am usually the one who gets impacted the most.

I never leave quite the same person. I walk away wiser and more aware of how inter-connected we as believers all are. We all need each other. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto. No one makes it through alone. No one who wants to stay sane, anyway.

Also, if you spend the week ministering and serving others, you will eventually be drained. You need a place to recharge and revitalize. You need a place where you can grow and mature and learn how to serve better.

If you’re in the Nashville area on Thursday nights, drop by the Connection Center at Brentwood Baptist Church at 7 pm. There’s always good worship to start things off, good teaching, and good table discussion afterward. You will be blessed.

Real Peace

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 2 Comments

Tonight at Kairos, I was reminded of the true nature of peace.

Peace is not the absence of war or conflict.

Peace is not the absence of storms and ever-sunny skies with nary a cloud in sight.

Peace is not contented cows chewing cud in a field of grass.

Peace is not a trouble-free life with no worries and nothing heavy weighing on your mind.

Peace is standing firm with the ultimate confidence that God is on your side.

Peace is knowing that there is a battle, but this battle is already won, and Jesus is the Victor.

Peace is  the assurance that nothing can separate you from the love of God, that Jesus has already overcome anything you will ever face in this life.

Peace is believing that even when the storms come– and they will– that even the winds and waves are stilled at the voice of Jesus, because they recognize the voice of their Creator.

Peace is what guards your heart and mind every night as you sleep because your God neither slumbers nor sleeps, but keeps watch over you at all times, singing His own songs over you.

Peace is what you put on your feet that will enable you to hold your ground in the face of whatever the enemy throws at you, because your enemy is a defeated foe and your God has already won.

May this peace be yours always as you know more and more of the Prince of Peace and His love for you. May this peace rule your hearts and minds now and forever.

 

Just Another Monday

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

As I get ready to type this blog, Lucy the wonder-cat has decided to camp out in my lap. I love the way she just barges in without waiting for permission. It’s like my own very affordable brand of therapy.

I have what seems like an everlasting cough that has been bugging me for three weeks or more. It doesn’t hurt and it’s not deep, but it’s persistent. And annoying. It’s hampering my possible superstar career in singing. Not really. But it is annoying.

I still feel that the best parts of life are those little pleasant surprises that come your way. They always seem to show up when you expect them least but need them most. I like to think they’re reminders that the grace of God is still alive and kicking.

That said, I’m glad Monday is over. It’s always a rude awakening for the week. I’m never ready for it and it always seems to come a day early.  But in perspective, it’s another day I woke up blessed and healthy and still saved by grace.

For those who keep up with college basketball, all my Final Four teams won. My bracket is back from the dead, off life-support, and looking good again.

There’s a whole lot I don’t know. Whole entire books could be written about what I don’t know. I do know a few things, like God is good and real and alive. There’s an enemy who is just as alive and real and opposed to everything God stands for. But my Bible says that the victory is already won.

I’ve said it before, but I love the idea that we as believers are fighting not for victory, but FROM victory. We are already more than conquerors through Jesus who loved us.

If that doesn’t get you through Monday, nothing will.

 

 

Reminders of Why I Need Grace

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

I got home from Kroger with redbox rental in hand, ready to settle in for an evening with The Phantom of the Opera at Royal Albert Hall. Until I realized that the $10 in cash I had added to my debit card purchase was still at Kroger.

So I drove all the way back, fuming and calling myself all sorts of names. I was hyper-critical of the drivers around me, because I of course am always the model citizen and poster child for good driving.

I even was a little snippy with the lady when I asked about my $10. Thankfully, someone turned it in to customer service and I got it back.

I was reminded of something I heard a pastor say. We want justice for when others mess up, but mercy and grace for ourselves. How true that was tonight.

If only I could have shown more grace to the other drivers and to those at Kroger’s who were only doing their job. If ony I could have been more forgiving to myself for making a mistake.

I need grace. You need grace. We all need grace every second of every day. We all need to be willing to give it as well as receive it. We will all make dumb mistakes and do things that cause us to slap our foreheads and want to call ourselves names (not all of which are fit to print here).

Like leaving $10 behind.

Thankfully, I am not who I was. I’m also not who I will be. I am a work in progress. We all are.

I’m thankful that when God sees me he doesn’t see the bad attitude and the short temper I had, but rather He looks at me and sees Jesus. Even on nights like tonight.

By the way, the Phantom of the Opera at Royal Albert Hall was nothing short of spectacular. I got goose bumps and chills several times.

And tomorrow is a new day full of new chances and new mercies and fresh grace.

That’s good, because I will probably need it. So will you, if you’re anything like me.

My Favorite Bible

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

I have to admit it. I have an addiction. Of all things, I’m addicted to collecting Bibles, particularly the pocket-sized ones. So far, I have a NASB, ESV, NIV, RSV, NRSV, HCSB, NLT, KJV, NKJV, NCV, CEV, ASV, Amplified, Pbillips, and the Message. That’s a lot of initials. And a lot of Bibles.

My favorite Bible that I own didn’t cost very much. It looks like it didn’t cost very much. But I love it.

It’s a Greek-English Interlinear Bible with the Revised Standard Version on the side margins. That means it has the Greek text and underneath each Greek word is the closest English word. It’s as literal a translation as you can get.

It takes a bit of getting used to, as the word order in Greek sentences isn’t always structured like it is in English. Often, the most important words come first, not the usual subject-verb-type structure.

For me, it is as close as I get to reading the original Greek New Testament. I can still sound out the Greek words, but I’d be lost without those little English words underneath.

The point of all that is for you to find the one you like and read it. It could be a literal translation or one of those dynamic equivalents, which are “thought for thought,” rather than “word for word.” Heck, it could even be a paraphrase, like the infamous Message version by Eugene Peterson.

Just find one that speaks to you, that makes the Word of God come alive to you and makes you fall in love with it. Find one that won’t be just mere words on a page, but words that change your life.

I heard once that if you have a Bible that’s falling apart, it usually means that your life isn’t. I don’t mean bad things never happen when you’re soaked in Scripture, but you have a solid foundation from which to anchor down in the stormy seasons of life.

By the way, my Bible doesn’t look anywhere as good as the Bible in this picture. But what matters is what’s inside. Kinda the same for you and me, don’t ya think?