“Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on their God. But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment. ” (Isaiah 50:10).

I heard something that specially caught my attention in a sermon recently. Do I trust in God’s activity or His identity. In other words, do I trust more what I see Him doing in my life or do I trust more in Who I know Him to be, based on how He has revealed Himself to me through Scripture and my own past experiences? As the old saying goes, when you can’t see His hand, trust His heart. There’s some truth to that.

So when God seems distant and silent and still, am I confident enough in Who He has declared Himself to be to wait? Will I actively wait, all the while preparing myself to receive what He’s preparing for me? Or will I try scheme and manipulate and coerce God’s plan to fit into my own timetable?

Sometimes I’m able to wait well. Sometimes I am just as crafty and conniving as a Jacob. Sometimes, I am like Abraham and Sarah, who thought they would “help” God out concerning His promise for a son for them. I know what torment that can bring to my own soul. How much unrest and inner turmoil can result. How many sleepless nights are the result.

God has proven Himself faithful to me many, many times. I know He is good and He is able to fulfill all He promised to me. I know He is able to do far above anything I could ask or imagine (and I have a pretty big imagination). I just don’t always wait well. Especially when I wait with no visible reward or result.

I say to me and to you to trust in God’s character more than what you perceive of His activity. I have found that the wait is always worth it and no time spent waiting is ever wasted. And more than anything I could ever recieve from His hand, getting to know God and His heart is the best part of the whole deal.

So I will continue to wait. And trust. And believe.

Here are some of the thoughts I had today and like me, there are random and not necessarily connected or in any kind of order.

1) Yes, I believe that Osama Bin Laden was a criminal who commited the worst sort of heinous acts against humanity and deserved to be punished under human law. But in the eyes of God we are just as much in need of a Savior and His grace as Osama was. We were all enemies of God who deserved hell and God’s wrath when Jesus died for us. But Jesus took that wrath we deserved and all our sins upon Himself. We get life and a new start and more grace than we will ever be able to comprehend. That’s good news.

2) I think I’ve come to the place where I’m a fan of good music. I’ve stopped trying to figure out whether it’s country or pop or Christian or alternative or whatever labels are out there. I think in my book there’s two kinds of music out there. There’s music that moves me and speaks to my soul and music that doesn’t. Period. I try to find as much of the first kind as possible and not think that my tastes in music should be the standard for everybody else. As long as your music moves you, I am all for it!

3) Everything I just said about music applies to movies and books.

4) I think I’m finally getting to the place where I can be brave enough to be weak enough to let Jesus do for me what I’ve tried repeatedly and failed to do for myself. I can’t beat temptation or control my temper or have a good attitude under my own power. I just can’t. I only make things worse. But not only is God able, He’s already doing these things in me. He won’t quit or give up until He’s finished making me into exactly who He wants me to be. And not one iota less than that will do.

5) Apparently, I like lists a lot. I’ve used them a lot lately. No reason.

6) It’s amazing to me how the most powerful and serene moments of peace seem to wash over me when I least expect them and especially when I least deserve them. Not when I’m managing my sin well and have my thoughts in order. Usually, it’s when I’ve just given into temper or a bad attitude and admitted it to myself and God. It’s like a sneak preview of heaven.

There. I’m done. I had no idea what would come out when I started this blog, but that’s usually how these things go. I am ususally the most surprised at what God puts on my heart during these times. Even if I were the only one reading these, it would be well worth it just for my own sanity and peace of mind.

Thanks for reading these and giving me your honest feedback. I will continue to try to be as authentic and true to myself and what God speaks to me as I can. I guarantee it may not always be pretty or always theologically correct, but it will never be dull.

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

I had an odd question today that came to mind. What would Jesus do with Osama Bin Laden? I’m not one to be dogmatic about this, but I have an idea how the conversation might go.

I don’t think Jesus would condemn Osama. After all, He didn’t come to condemn, but to save. I truly think Jesus would say something like, “Osama, I’m coming over to your house for dinner.” I think Jesus would show Osama a God he had never seen, a God of love and compassion and forgiveness.

Look at Zaccheus, a tax collector who robbed people blind. Look at Saul, who later became Paul. He persecuted and killed Christians and was the #1 enemy of the Church before he was radically saved and transformed. Look at any of the disciples, who were far from the elite or cream of the crop. Look at the thief on the cross.

I think Jesus would say that no one is ever beyond redemption. He would say it’s never too late to start over. He would say that His grace is sufficient for anyone, no matter what they’ve done. That Divine Love is more powerful than any ideology or cause or man-made religion or anything else in this world.

Did Osama deserve to die for all his wrongs? Yes. Do we deserve to die for all the times we’ve sinned and rebelled against a Holy God? Yes. But we got grace instead, because we said YES to Jesus. I wonder if Osama ever heard someone tell him that Jesus loved him. Maybe. Maybe not.

I guess what I’m driving at is that we can’t ever give up on anybody ever. We can’t condemn anybody because that could be any of us but by the grace of God. All we can do is love Jesus and believe that through Him everybody is welcome, nobody is perfect and anything is possible (something I borrowed from Cross Point Church).

That’s all.

I’ve been reading over the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and I’ve thought what some of these would have sounded like to modern ears. For people like you and me, living and breathing and eating and working in the 21st century world. Maybe something like this:

1) You’re blessed when you’ve admitted you’re hopelessly caught up in your addictions and can’t free yourself, because in surrender there is freedom and liberty.

2) You’re blessed when you’ve quit being religious and started being real, when you take off the masks you’ve been wearing for so long and be yourself, warts and broken pieces and all, because you’ve given God a place to start in your life and that’s all He needs.

3) You’re blessed when you stop pointing fingers at everyone else for what’s wrong with the world and start pointing that finger at the figure in the mirror looking back at you, because the first step of healing and restoration  begins with admitting you’re the one who is sick and needs a Doctor.

4) You’re blessed when you won’t rejoice in the death of another, no matter how depraved or despicable  that person’s actions are, because you know that the only reason that person isn’t you is the nonstop grace of God at work in your life.

5) You’re blessed when you can look at your enemy and smile and forgive them even when they’re still hurting you, because you know that Love is stronger than hate or rage or fear and the Jesus in you is always stronger than whatever or whoever you’re facing.

6) You’re blessed when you can freely admit that you don’t have all the answers or have God all figured out, when you admit that you can’t make it on your own, that you are desparately in need of God to come through for you or you will fail miserably, because that’s always when God shows up in your world.

7) You’re blessed when you know that the very thing God wants from you is just for you to say that you don’t deserve Him or anything He can give you, that there is no reason He should bother with you, other than what Jesus has done for you on the Cross and how He took your place. How His perfection and righteousness are yours. That you surrender yourself and lay down your rights and own plans and follow Him to any place or person He leads you to. These are the kind of people God wants to change the world with.

8) You’re blessed when your prayer every morning is “Help me! Help me Help me!” and your prayer every evening is “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Because you’re headed in the right direction. You have God on your side and He’s not about to leave you or abandon you. He may take you down some roads you would not have chosen, but He will be with you every step of the way and He has promised in the end to get you Home on time.

May these and many more blessings be yours now and always!

I have a question for you (and primarily for me). Will you stay the course?

Will you be faithful when seemingly everyone else is taking the comfrtable and easy road? Will you stay on the straight and narrow road when the wide road seems so inviting and appealing?

Will you hold fast to your beliefs when it would be so much easier to compromise or just be quiet about certain aspects of the faith that aren’t so popular or politically correct? Will you believe all of Jesus’ words, even those about His exclusivity and what He said about Hell?

Will you love those who don’t love you back? Will you serve those who can’t or won’t ever repay you? Will you give of yourself even without the promise of a return in this lifetime?

Will you stop pretending to be perfect and be willing to admit your weaknesses? When you fall (not if, but when), will you get up and keep going? Will you see that the greatest and most lasting lessons you’ll ever learn come not from successes, but failures?

I hope you will. I hope you can say a resounding YES to each and every one of these questions. I also hope you realize all this doesn’t have to come out of your own resources and strength. Which leads me to one last set of questions.

Will you be weak enough to stop trying on your own and let God be your strength and do for you what you could never do for yourself? Will you allow the indwelling Spirit to live through you and the Christ within to shine through you? Will you come to the place where you know that all God wants from you is not your works or good efforts or promises, but simply you, surrendered and available to anything He wants.

Will you? Will I?

In Christ, we will.

Hopefully, this blog will give you some insight into the shining mystery that is me. Because I know you have all been dying to know just what makes this Greg person tick. And don’t they make pills for that? The answers to those questions respectively are I don’t know and if you find out, let me know.

I love music. I have a song playing in my head nearly all the time and random phrases tend to trigger songs in my mind. I think music is a picture of the body of Christ, where it’s not about everyone playing the same melody. God gave us different parts to play so there would be harmony. In every sense.

I love movies. There’s something very satisfying about a good story told well. Good movies reveal more each time you see them and speak to the human condition. Movies that I like are movies I can relate to and characters I can empathize with.

If I had to choose between music and movies and books, I would probably choose books. Ideally, I won’t ever have to choose, but I think a good book is one of my most favorite things. Re-reading classics like Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia every year is something I look forward to. Again, I like a good story told well.

I really love to see people as God heals them. I love people discovering their place in God’s ultimate plan. I love when the people of God come together to be the Church and don’t fall into the normal American trap of just going to church. I love fellowshup and sharing joys and sorrows. I love how our unity and love for each other shows who Jesus is to the world better than anything else.

Oh, and I like cats, since I have one. Or she lets me live in her space. The old saying is so true. Dogs have owners, but cats have staff. And I think I’m being paged by mine now.

I’ve been thinking about what the key factor is in me staying the course and finishing the good fight and running the good race, like the apostle Paul talks about. What will it be?

Will it be my willpower? Not hardly, I find out time and time again that my will is weak and I am easily prone to temptations and indifference.

Will it be all my activities and Bible studies and Christian events? No. More knowledge is not the answer unless that knowledge goes from my head to my heart and transforms the way I live.

Will it be having all the correct doctrines and beliefs? Again, I doubt it. Those who knew the most about religion in Jesus’ day were the ones who most vehemently opposed Jesus and had Him killed.

Well, then. What will get me home? What will get you home? I suspect that you are like me and you have fallen and sinned way too many times to keep count. All your activities and all your knowledge haven’t gotten you where you need to be. What then?

The answer is Jesus. Jesus and Jesus alone will get us home. It’s not going to be because we had such admirable and overwhelming faith in Him, but because He kept His promise that He gave when He said He would never leave us or forsake us, that He wouldn’t lose even one of those the Father gave Him.

The older I get, the more I realize how much I need Jesus. Not just for when I was lost and needed a Savior, but now when I’m weak and need Him to be my Strength, when I am speechless and need Him to be my Voice, when I am blind and need Him to be my Sight. He’s everything I need to get me Home and He Himself is the Way I will get there.

Jesus, be everything that I can’t be in me to all those you have called me to love. I confess if you’re not holding me up every second, I will fall. I know you won’t ever let me go. Let the rest of my life be a gigantic “THANK YOU!” back to You for all You are to me. You are my Life.

Thank You!

Were you always picked last for teams in school?

Were you the one who always sat ignored in a corner during a party while seemingly everyone else in the room was having a great time?

Were you left wondering what you did after a friend decided you weren’t worth the effort anymore and dropped (or defriended) you?

Were you the one left holding the pieces of your heart after your spouse or significant other gave up on you and walked out on you?

Were you ever the one wondering if you would ever matter to anyone and if the world wouldn’t just be better off without you in it?

Every single one of us (including me) has said yes to one or more of these questions. And the ultimate question: Did you ever wonder if God was ready to throw in the towel on you, too?

The answer as plainly as I can put it is HELL NO.

God’s not even close to quitting on you. In fact, he’s still pursuing you. The fact that He’s running after you is not because He’s angry, but because He can’t wait to get to you.

God chose YOU because He wanted YOU. He loved YOU enough to give up everything, leave heaven, and die a criminal’s death on a cross for YOU. YOU are His beloved.

I will never get tired of saying that you are God’s beloved. It will never ever grow old to think that I am His beloved. If I am sounding a one-note symphony, it is this: God is madly in love with you and wants you. Not because ones He really wanted were taken. Not because there weren’t any good choices out there. He wanted you.

And He still does. He wants to take you and transform you into something beautiful and give you a story to tell that will astonish the world. Your and my part is simply to believe what God says about us and receive it and live out of it. Then be God’s love to someone else. It’s really that simple.

Henri Nouwen summarized the whole entire gospel in one word: Beloved. That’s what you are.

Ain’t it grand?