joy

What Do You Want?

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At Kairos tonight, Mike Glenn posed this question: Suppose God shows up in front of you and asks you want you want, no limits and no restrictions. What would you ask for?

The Bible relates that happening to King Solomon. He could have asked for the death of his enemies or vast wealth. He probably didn’t need any more wives, so I imagine that wasn’t an option.

He chose wisdom.

What would you choose? What would I choose?

I want my answer to be as much of God as I can handle. I remember the verse in Matthew that says to seek first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness, and everything else will be added.

That’s not saying that I will strike it rich or that a fabulously wealthy uncle that I’ve never heard of will kick the bucket and leave his gazillions to me. That’s saying that I will get what I need when I need it.

My growing desire these days is to hunger and thirst after God more than anything else. Before you start thinking how super-spiritual I am, let me rephrase that statement. I want to want to hunger and thirst after God more than anything else.

Happiness fades. As soon as I’ve found what I think will make me happy, the feeling wears off.

I want joy. I want the kind of joy that comes from being grounded in the truth of who Jesus is and who I am in Christ. I want joy that outlasts seasons of happiness and sadness, sunshine and rain (now you’re probably humming that song from the early 90’s), bliss and pain.

I want to be able to say (and mean it) that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away and my joy is the same, regardless.

What a lost world needs to see isn’t happy Christians, but believers so full of joy that nothing and no one can touch or take away. May we be so full of the joy and love of Christ that it can’t help but spill out onto those around us who need it.

 

 

Baggage Part II: Polaroids of the Past

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If you’ve lived long enough to make at least one incredibly stupid decision, you’ve got some of these. Maybe you’re like me with lots of small regrets, moments of time captured in your mind as clear as the images on a polaroid.

They call it flash bulb memory, where you can remember every single detail of a certain moment in time where something in your life changed. Those happen in good moments, in tragic moments, and most of all, in moments where you and I screwed up.

Maybe you are like me and have been carrying around a suitcase full of those images for years. The suitcase keeps getting heavier and heavier as you compile more polaroids of shame and guilt. More moments you would give anything to go back and undo.

Jesus wants those polaroids. Not for the reasons you think. He’s not going to be shocked or surprised by what He sees. He knows about each and every one. In fact, He was there when they happened.

He wants all of these pictures, not to hold them over your head every day or to make you feel perpetually ashamed. He wants to take them from you and case them as far away from you as possible. As far as the east is from the west. As far as the heavens are above the earth.

I am not my mistakes. Neither are you. Who I was in my weakest moments is not who I am. The way you acted all those years ago isn’t really you anymore. If anyone is in Christ, he or she is a brand new creation. Not a better you, but a completely new you.

It’s time to stop being weighed down by the past and start walking in the freedom that comes with new mercies and clean slates each morning. It’s time to really live in the freedom Christ purchased for us, the condemnation-free life that is now ours.

Carried

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“When you can’t run, you crawl, and when you can’t crawl – when you can’t do that… You find someone to carry you” (from an episode of Firefly).

I was watching one of my favorite TV series tonight (and yet another great series that the Fox Network killed way too soon– but that’s another blog for another day) and I heard this quote and it made me think of the Church.

The Apostle Paul speaks about us being in a race, a race that we should seek to run well. He speaks about how we train our bodies so we will finish well. Obviously, this isn’t a literal race, but the live of faith lived with a finish line in view.

Sometimes, when we can’t run any longer, we crawl. Maybe we’re exhausted or burned out or wonded or have lost our way. Whatever the case, every single one of us will at times find ourselves crawling.

Sometimes, we can’t even crawl. We’ve come to the end of our abilities and have no strength or energy to move one more inch. That’s when someone else has to carry us. And we have to be humble and honest enough to ask.

Scripture calls us to carry each other’s burdens. Sometimes that means we carry each other. It means we believe for others when they can’t believe for themselves about getting through a trial or tragedy or test.

If you think of prayer that way, it really does change your perspective. Prayer is not saying kind words about someone else to God, but rather taking that person to God. You can almost visualize carrying that person on your back into the very presence of Jesus Himself.

I’ve always loved the poem Footprints and especially the image of only one set of footprints in the sand being the times when God has carried us. If we’re honest, there’s not one moment when we are not completely taken care of, deeply loved, and carried by Abba Father.

May that be the last image you have before sleep and dreams take you tonight.

 

 

A Borrowed Easter Prayer

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“It is truly right and good, always and everywhere, with our whole heart and mind and voice, to praise you, the invisible, almighty, and eternal God, and your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord; for he is the true Paschal Lamb, who at the feast of the Passover paid for us the debt of Adam’s sin, and by his blood delivered your faithful people.

This is the night, when you brought our fathers, the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, and led them through the Red Sea on dry land.

This is the night when all who believe in Christ are delivered from the gloom of sin, and are restored to grace and holiness of life.

This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell, and rose victorious from the grave.

How wonderful and beyond our knowing, O God, is your mercy and loving-kindness to us, that to redeem a slave, you gave a Son.

How holy is this night, when wickedness is put to flight, and sin is washed away. It restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to those who mourn. It casts out pride and hatred, and brings peace and concord.

How blessed is this night, when earth and heaven are joined and men and women are reconciled to God.

Holy Father, accept our evening sacrifice, the offering of this candle in your honor. May it shine continually to drive away all darkness. May Christ, the Morning Star who knows no setting, find it ever burning—he who gives his light to all creation, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.”

This is from The Great Vigil of Easter in The Common Book of Prayer, one of my favorite devotional/prayer books. It expresses my thoughts about Easter perfectly and I hope it becomes the prayer of your heart this Easter Sunday and every day after.

An Easter Toast Revisited

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“We raise our glasses and drink to love that never gave up.”

Easter isn’t about defeat. Probably you’ve heard that the Cross is where the devil had his way and won and the Resurrection is where Jesus came from behind and won the victory once and for all.

Ok, maybe not in those words, but something to that effect. Let me set the record straight.

The cross was a victory. Why do you think the devil tried so hard to tempt Jesus into deviating from His mission, first in the desert in the beginning and then in the garden at the end?

But instead we get to share in the spoils of the victory Jesus won. We get a share in His inheritance. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus perfection because that perfection is now ours.

I’m not perfect and I sure don’t claim to know all the answers or have every fine point of theology figured out. But I do know that once I was without hope and now I have hope, thanks to the cross.

Once I was lost and now I’m found, thanks to the cross.

Once I was a stranger and an outcast and an outsider, but now I’m family and a child of God, thanks to the cross.

Just as God raised Jesus from the dead and defeated death, I know that God will one day raise me up to eternal life, just as surely as I know the sun will rise in the morning.

I like what I read in The Book of Common Prayer today. It says what I want to say better than I could:

“O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquillity the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever Amen.”

That’s worth raising your glass and toasting.

 

The Continuing Adventures of Lucy the Wonder Cat

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I discovered a way to save time. I was having to brush off my clothes after Lucy napped on me to get rid of the hair she sheds (and she always seems to shed more when I have dark pants on).

I figured that I could skip a step and use the lint roller on Lucy.

It turns out, she loved it. She purred. I guess for her it was like having one of those exotic Swedish massages.

I think that’s what they call “killing two birds with one stone.”

More exciting and thrilling adventures to come.

 

Friday Is a Good Thing

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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!”

Owning Who You Are in Christ

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I like what Woody Allen said in his movie Annie Hall. He said, “I would never want to belong to a club that would have someone like me for a member.” Ever felt that way?

I know you’ve heard about people looking for the perfect church and how if you ever find it, don’t go there, because it won’t be perfect anymore. I can relate to that.

One of Satan’s main job descriptions is accusing believers day and night before God. Some of what he says may be true; a lot of what he says it not.

It doesn’t matter. What the devil says about me is not who I am. What people I work with say about me is not who I am. Not even what my friends and family say about me is who I am.

I am solely and completely who God says I am in Christ. I am holy, righteous, perfect, lacking nothing, and having everything I need. I am, because God says I am.

If you believed what God says about you– really, really believed it deep down– you would live differently. So would I. We wouldn’t be captive to the opinions of others. We wouldn’t live and die by the praise and criticism of others.

Only God really and truly knows me. He knows the secrets I keep, the fears I never tell any one, the shameful thoughts I have, and the doubts I carry. He knows it all and yet He’s the one who says good things about me.

He sees Jesus in me and what Jesus is doing in me. He sees the finished product as well as the work-in-progress.

If anyone had the right to condemn me or write me off, it’s Jesus. Yet He’s the one who intercedes for me and fights for me. He’s your Advocate, too.

Read Ephesians 1:1-15 and notice all that God says about you. Write those things down and meditate on them. Let those things become how you see yourself, because that’s the way God sees you.

If you haven’t already seen it, I recommend Annie Hall as a good movie to watch. It’s a classic.

Strange Songs to Get Stuck in Your Head

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I have songs running through my head all the time. It’s better than listening to the radio. I never know what song will be next or where it will come from or what will inspire it. Like the one that’s in there now. It goes like

“My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do for you.”

That’s the whole song. It’s deceptively simple and easy enough for toddlers to sing, but profound enough to blow the minds of the most seasoned believers.

There’s so much truth here if you let it sink in. If you dismiss it as a simple children’s song, you miss out on some very deep truths.

God is so big. He’s bigger than you, bigger than your dreams, bigger than what you’re afraid of, bigger than what you’re facing. He’s bigger than what the world says you can’t do or be or overcome. He is so big.

God is so strong. He’s strong enough to reach down to wherever you are, no matter how low, and pull you out. He’s strong enough to break through any barrier or stronghold or even the hell you’re in to find you and rescue you. He is so strong.

God is so mighty. He’s mighty enough to keep you safe and secure from all alarms. He’s mighty enough to finish what He started in you and make you into the person He created you to be. He is so mighty.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that God cannot do for you. What’s impossible for you is not even remotely difficult for God (yes, I stole that from a good sermon I heard, but I don’t think he’ll mind).

If you had these words running through your mind all day, imagine how much more confidence and courage you would have. If you believed it enough to step out off the ledge in a leap of faith. If you went to the dangerous and messy places that Jesus went to in order to bring a cup of cold water and a message of hope to the lonely, the broken, the hurting, the outcast, and the thrown-aside.

My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty. He’s stronger than cancer. Stronger than divorce. Stronger than unemployment. Stronger than moral failure. Stronger than addiction. Stronger than the death of a child. Stronger than depression. Stronger than chronic pain. Strong enough to get you through anything and make you stronger on the other side.

There’s nothing my God cannot do. For you.

The YEC: Coming Full Circle

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I got a chance to volunteer over the weekend at the Youth Evangelism Conference at the Nashville Municipal Concert, hosted by the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

It was like coming full circle for me. I was one of the students at the YEC a long, long time ago. This time, I got to see it from the other side. It was an amazing experience.

I saw hundreds of youth walk forward to place their faith in Christ. Not inherited or intellectual faith (as the speaker put it), but real, intimate faith in a real, living Christ. It was one of those moments I hope I never forget any part of. May we see many more such movements of the Holy Spirit on the next generations (and on all generations, for that matter).

I ran into a guy I went to high school with who told me his brother, who graduated with me, had been transformed by the grace of God. Once he had a wild streak and was a partyer. Now he’s a missionary to India getting ready to be in charge of reaching an unreached people group. Only God could do something like that!

I walked aound the Municipal Center, looking at poster-sized replicas of old concert tickets. Apparently in 1978 and 1979, you  could see Bob Dylan and Jackson Browne and other great live acts for $7.50. What I would do for a working time machine.

I probably saw more Christian t-shirts in two days than I’ve seen in the previous year. My favorite one was one that said “This shirt doesn’t have a Christian message,” but on the back it said, “But I do.” That’s how it should be. Our witness should be in our walk and our talk more than in what we wear.

I hope to volunteer again next year and do more. I hope to see God’s Spirit move in power again. I hope that never gets old for me.