religion

What to Wear This Holiday Season

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“So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it” (Col. 3:12-14, The Message).

No, this is not a fashion blog. It’s more of an attitude-adjustment kind of blog.

The holiday season is vast approaching. Some are looking forward to traveling and seeing relatives, many of whom you only see on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some are dreading the awkward conversations and the even more awkward silences that are just as much a part of the family tradition as stuffing your face with turkey and gathering around the TV for the ol’ football game.

Maybe this season, try something different. Put on compassion. Instead of being so exasperated with THAT relative who gets on your very last nerve, try to understand why he or she is that way. Maybe try to see things from his or her point of view.

Try grace. You know you’ve been obnoxious and annoying at times. You know you’ve put your foot in your mouth a time or two and said some things you’d prefer were never brought up again. Ever. So when someone else annoys or upsets you with an offhand comment that comes out wrong, be forgiving.

Try humility, remembering that the other person bears the image of God just as much as you do. Remember that you were just as much in need of forgiveness and grace as the other person.

If all else fails, eat as much turkey as possible. With all that tryptophan running through your system, you won’t care anymore what anybody says. Plus, you can’t really say anything stupid with your mouth full.

Not Original But A Good Reminder Still

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I know you’ve probably heard this used as an illustration in a sermon or a speech at some point in your life. I’ve heard it more than once, but it bears repeating because it is such a good and timely reminder.

Those who look for counterfeit bills don’t spend as much time studying the counterfeits as you might think. Why? Because they spend all their time studying the real bills, getting as familiar as possible with every little detail so that when a counterfeit comes along, they can instantly spot the differences.

The best way to spot false teaching is to know the truth. It’s to know the Bible. Not just carry it around or talk about it or read books about it. Not even just to read it. But to soak it in, to know it, to breathe it, to live it, so that it becomes such a part of you that you instantly recognize counterfeit teaching when you hear it.

Don’t just read words. Come to Scripture with a prayerful heart and a teachable spirit. Ask God to show you what he intended when he inspired the original authors. Pray for eyes to see the truth within, no matter how painful or uncomfortable. Then do what it says.

That’s my challenge to you. That’s my challenge to me because I frankly haven’t done a very good job of knowing the Bible I carry around. Because the Bible says false teachers will come and try to deceive you and lead you from the truth. They will say what sounds good to the ear, what feels good, and what maybe partially true. But in the end, it’s deception.

Deception leads to bondage. Only the truth, and knowing the truth, will set you free.

Autumn Grace

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After church today, I ate lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in Nashville, Taco Mamasita. The weather was nice enough for me to sit outside, with a breeze just chilly enough to remind me that it was still fall. The kind that carries with it reminders of a summer past and a winter still to come.

Moments like these are good reminders that while it’s easy to lose perspective and focus on all the things I don’t have, life really is comprised of the small unexpected moments like this where I realize that I’m blessed to be alive and healthy enough to enjoy them.

I didn’t mind parking a couple of blocks away, because it was a perfect day for a walk. My only regret was not having my camera with me to capture the moment. As I took in the variety of colors of autumn leaves, I was reminded again that life is so transitory and precious to be taken for granted. The same goes for relationships. You can never go back and say the words you meant to say to someone if you don’t take the time to say them now.

If you go to Taco Mamasita’s, I recommend ordering the Caribbean Jerk taco with a side of Chipotle Turnip Greens. But honestly, you can’t go wrong with anything you order there. Yeah, it’s that good.

Take advantage of the fall weather while it’s still around. Go for a walk and breathe deep the autumn air and be thankful that you woke up today. Be thankful for the people in your life and make a point to let them know you’re grateful.

I’m thinking the next time I go there, I might try the General Homeboy taco (eventually, I hope to try everything on the menu at least once). Hopefully sooner than later. Only the next time, I’ll take my camera along.

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I don’t know if you’ve ever had this experience. You’re listening to music or reading a book (or in my case, listening to a book on CD) and a phrase jumps out at you. Or maybe just a word.

In my case, the word is BOLD. As in live BOLDLY for Christ.

Hebrews 4:16 encourages us to enter the throne of grace with BOLDNESS, to not hedge out bets when it comes to prayer, but to believe that all things are possible with God.

We are to believe BOLDLY in the promises of God for ourselves and for others, knowing that nothing is more powerful in all the universe more powerful than God’s love.

We are to live BOLDLY, not fearing those who can only kill the body but not the soul. I firmly believe that our lives should be a walking testimony of the power of the Gospel to save and transform. Like Francis of Assisi is reputed to have said, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.”

We are to sing BOLDLY, regardless of whether we have a voice like Pavarotti or can’t carry a tune in a bucket. After all, the Bible does say to make a joyful noise. A thankful heart expressing itself in praise is the most beautiful sound in God’s ears, especially if it comes out of a life of gratitude.

I’ll be the first to confess that I don’t live BOLDLY most of the time. I’m still too bound up in what others think (or more accurately, my perception of what I think others will think). Only when you and I are completely free and confident in Christ can we speak and work and live and pray BOLDLY.

So that’s my prayer for us. That we can be BOLD in all things, knowing that we are children of God, heirs to the Promise, and victors in Christ.

 

Rainy Thursday Night Reminders

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uncle billy

Side note: I thought about titling this “The You-niqueness of You,” but decided against it, because I actually want people to read it.

I think sometimes we have a “one size fits all” theology when it comes to how God operates in people’s lives. Testimonies have to be bloody and dramatic and have a pivotal moment when the main character hits absolute rock bottom and has no where to go but up.

But not all testimonies are like that. Some people grow up around church and get saved at an early age, but it took just as much of a miracle to save them as it did the drugged-up alcoholic who comes to Christ after a near-death experience. Both are equally valid testimonies and both can reach people.

Jesus never healed people the same way twice. Every call for people to follow him was as different as the individuals he called. God’s plan for your life is as unique as you are.

Don’t ever let people force God’s call on their lives on you. Don’t let other people define your life by their (or some other arbitrary) standard. Your life and your ministry are your own.

I love a story I read in Johnny Cash’s autobiography. He relates a story about how a music executive was looking for the next Randy Travis. Johnny Cash basically told him straight up, “What’s wrong with the Randy Travis you have?”

You are not called to be the next Billy Graham and save millions of souls. You are not called to be the next Mother Teresa. You are called to be you, just as I am called to be me.

Honestly, sometimes I get discouraged because my life doesn’t look like someone else’s. But God’s plan for me is my own. It may not look like your’s or anybody else’s, but it’s still mine.

The only question is this. Will you be faithful to God’s call on your life? Will you obey what you know God is calling you to do right now at this very moment? Will you accept where God has you as a gift and an opportunity to reach out to the people he’s put in front of you?

The Fat Lady Ain’t Sung Yet Part II

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Yeah, I went all Hollywood and did a blog sequel. But I had some additional thoughts about what I wrote last night.

I’m still hearing a lot of gloom and doom talk, a lot of talk about how this nation is headed inevitably down a path that will end with us all being controlled by the man. I’m not sure who the man is, but watch out for him.

It’s not for me to say if we as a nation are done for. That’s really not my place to speculate. I don’t know if we will still be around 500 years from now or will be a footnote in history by then. I do know this.

I am called as a believer to pray for my president. And yes, President Obama is my president, whether or not I voted for him. I owe him the respect of his position, as commanded by Scripture. I don’t have to agree with everything he does, but I do have to respect the office he holds.

I am also called to believe that real change doesn’t come from passing laws or bills. Real change comes from God changing lives, one heart at a time. It comes from when stone hearts get replaced by hearts of flesh and what was dead comes alive and what was lost is now found.  It comes from Jesus.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that God can change a politician’s heart. Stranger things have happened. Anybody remember that guy who wrote most of the New Testament? That guy who was firmly committed to getting rid of Christians before he himself became one? Hint: his name starts with a P and ends with -aul.

As much as it’s ingrained in us to want our side to win, the saner course of action is to not have sides. If the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things and expecting different results, then we have an insane political system.

The sane answer is to reach across the dividing line and listen to each other. To discuss issues and find common ground.

Most of all, the sane answer is to realize once and for all that the real issues aren’t political, but spiritual. That we are all broken people in need of a Savior.

I love what Billy Graham said. “I’ve read the last page of the Bible, it’s all going to turn out all right.”

On the Eve of Election Day

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Some things to keep in mind tomorrow when Election Day rolls around.

1) We’re electing a President, not a Savior. That position has already been filled and isn’t open for voting (thanks to Mike Glenn for that reminder).

2) “A sign of idolatry in our politics is that opponents are not considered to be simply mistaken, but to be evil” (Keller). If we can’t get past the “us vs. them” mentality, we’re done for.

3) Do get out and vote. Don’t assume that other people will vote your values for you. Don’t assume that your vote won’t matter. A lot of people around the world wish they had the right to choose their leaders, so let’s take advantage of our right to vote.

4) The world will not come to a screeching fiery halt either way. Regardless of whoever wins, the sun will still come up on Wednesday, October 7.

5) If you are a believer and follower of Christ, then your true citizenship lies with a King and a Kingdom, not a country and a President. Remember that you are pilgrims and strangers in this world, just passing through.

6) They should give out cookies to those who vote. I’d say chocolate chip (or oatmeal for those weird people who don’t like chocolate). That would entice many more people to vote. Just my two cents.

7) There are 49 days, 1 hour, and 47 minutes left before Christmas, in case you were wondering (and in case you were sick to death of all things political at this point).

8) Most importantly, God is still very much in control. My job is to pray for whoever wins and support him, regardless of whether he’s the man I voted for or not. If God can speak through a donkey, he can certainly work through a President.

 

 

Tangible Memories

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I have my grandfather’s old radio. It sat on his workbench for years and kept him entertained while he tinkered and puttered around in his garage.

Now it sits in my bedroom, a tangible reminder of someone that I loved who is gone but not forgotten.

It’s more than a collection of old tubes and dials and wiring. It’s like a piece of my grandfather is here with me, even though my grandfather has been gone almost 30 years.

I hope one day to leave a legacy like that to someone. I hope that the words I have written or spoken, the things I have done, will inspire someone else to go out and make a difference, to do what most other people say can’t be done.

The radio still works. It takes a minute or two for the tubes to warm up, but after that it sounds as good as it ever did. Legacies are funny that way.

 

 

Late-Night Thoughts About Joseph

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“Joseph replied, ‘Don’t be afraid. Do I act for God? Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people.'” (Gen. 50:20)

As I have confessed before, there’s a whole lot I don’t know. Especially when it comes to why horrible things happen to godly people. I can point to verses that talk about God working in mysterious ways and how he works all things together for good, but at the end of the day, I’m unable to explain why God couldn’t have worked it out for them in a less painful way.

That’s when I yield to faith. I yield to what I know of God and his character. I yield to what I know of his proven track record in my own life. And I have to fall down on my knees and confess that he is good and that I have nowhere else to turn.

Joseph comes to mind. If anyone in the Bible had a right to play the victim card, it was Joseph. Sold into slavery by his own flesh and blood, falsely accused and slandered by the wife of the man that he had done nothing but serve faithfully for years, and forgotten in prison by those who promised they would remember. I would have thrown in the towel long before then.

But Joseph chose forgiveness. He chose to look with eyes of faith to what human eyes couldn’t see– that God was working even in the worst of circumstances to save not just one man, but an entire nation. He, like so many others, looked to the promises of God and counted them as good as done even when they seemed as good as dead.

I love what a pastor says. God can take that worst moment of your life, that most painful and humiliating season, and make it the first line of your testimony. To borrow a quote I’ve heard a lot lately, he can turn your mess into your message, your test into your testimony, your trial into triumph, and the victim into a victor. You will be able to speak to the pain that no one else can touch because you’ve walked through it.

I love this verse in Hebrews 11: “By an act of faith, Joseph, while dying, prophesied the exodus of Israel, and made arrangements for his own burial.” In other words, Joseph saw that God was able to redeem every single part of what he went through for a purpose far greater than himself. A purpose that saw the rise of a people of God, and later the Messiah.

May you and I see our circumstances with that kind of faith. May we trust that God is just as able to redeem our pain to make something equally as glorious and beautiful out of our messes.