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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.

Living Sermons: Thoughts from Tonight’s Kairos Roots

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Something Aaron Bryant said really hit home with me today in a way few things have lately.

He said that we as believers could be the only sermons some people will ever hear.

Many people who will never step foot inside a chuch building are watching you and me. They are listening as we talk about our faith and how much we love the worship services and sermons we participate in each week.

But what speaks loudest of all is how we live. How we respond to bad days and failure and criticism. How we react when people yell at us or berate us or make fun of us and our beliefs.

When they see us not chasing after the next new big fad or product, they notice. They might think something like, “This is a person just like me who’s not captive to making the same bad choices I always seem to make. There’s something different about her (or him).”

When you exhibit contentment in Christ, it’s hard to miss. When you can be at peace in the middle of the chaos of a hectic day, it’s hard to miss. When you forgive after being hurt, they see Jesus in the flesh, your flesh, as He really is, full of love and grace and mercy.

You are preaching something every single day. How you live either glorifies you or God. How you treat others around you will influence how they see the God you profess to serve.

It’s not about being perfect and always acting out of love and never slipping up and giving in to anger. It’s about being able to ‘fess up when you mess up. It’s about being able to say the words, “I’m sorry. I was wrong. What I said (or did) didn’t reflect what I believe. Will you forgive me?”

So preach love. Not the touchy-feely sentimental much that passes for love these days, but the “get your hands and feet dirty” kind of love. The unconditional agape love that only can come from God, not from us.

Preach grace. Preach forgiveness. Preach not rules and regulations, but a better way to live.

St. Francis said it best (or at least this quote is always attributed to him, so that’s close enough for me): “Preach the Gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words.”

If you live Jesus on a daily basis, when the time comes, you will have an open door to share Jesus to a willing audience.

Teachability, Vulnerability, and Constructive Criticism

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I hate public speaking. Whenever I had to do any kind of a presentation in class, I got the sweaty palms, mysterious flu-like symptoms (so I could get out of having to speak in public), and a strong desire to be a desert monk who has taken a vow of silence.

Most people are with me on this. I think people are more afraid of speaking in public than they are of dying. I know this to be true, because I found it on the internet, which is the bastion of all things credible and trustworthy. Especially Wikipedia.

I also hate giving criticism. I am a people-pleaser, so I hate to do or say anything at all that might cause tension in the relationship. In the past, my way of giving criticism was easy– avoid it like the bubonic plague.

But I’ve been thinking lately. If there was a way I could be better at something, I would want someone to show me. If I could improve in an area of my life, I would love for someone to tell me.

Criticism isn’t telling someone how bad they are. It’s telling them how they could be better. It’s not “Hey, your feet smell and you are a lousy, no-good blah blah blah,” but “Hey, I notice that you are really making an effort and doing a good job. Here’s a better way you could do this one particular thing. . . . ”

The Bible tells us to speak the truth in love. If it’s not truth, we’re enabling their mistakes and bad behavior. If it’s not spoken in love, then it’s condemnation and more likely to do more harm than good.

The best way to address a problem I see in someone else is to fix it in me. After all, we tend to project our faults onto other people and notice more readily in them the same weaknesses we struggle with (that’s my Union University degree paying off).

Actions speak louder than words, so the best way to change someone else is to tell that person how they are wrong, but to live out the right way. That person may not listen to you and may cut you off in mid-sentence, but you can show them the better way by listening to what they have to say.

The best way of all is to strive to be more like Jesus. If the people in our lives see us living out our beliefs in humility, authenticity, and transparency, they are more likely to listen to what we have to say. As I heard it put, preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.

Bonhoeffer And the 2012 Election

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I’ve been reading a spectacular biography on Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas, which I recommend for those of you who want some “light” reading (it’s 576 pages long, but it’s paperback, so it still counts, right?). I have noticed some very striking similarities between his day and ours.

First of all, I am NOT comparing President Obama to Hitler in ANY way. I do not think they are even remotely alike.

I do think that there are many who have placed messianic expectations on President Obama, just as there are also those who are looking for either Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney to be the next Savior of the world. I do think it’s a very dangerous thing to put such high expectations on any human being, regardless of whether they are conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat.

I think that just as in Bonhoeffer’s day, we as the Church are called to be outside the political process. We are to be the concience of this nation, to champion the cause of the outcast, downtrodden, and needy, and to speak the whole truth, regardless of whether or not it appeals to our conservative or liberal leanings.

I believe we are called, like John the Baptist was, to be a voice crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way for the real Messiah, Jesus. We are to proclaim that salvation has come and deliverance is here, and that the hope for the world lies not in Washington, but in a Man born in a manger in Bethlehem.

Do vote for the people you think best qualified to be in office. Do fight for those values you hold dear. Don’t demonize those who have different opinions than you politically or otherwise. Don’t make your personal convictions to be the universal convictions for every single person out there. The standard that all people are called to live up to is God’s, not ours.

On an aside, it’s one thing to be pro-life, but if you’re going to fight for life, you shouldn’t pick and choose who gets to live and who doesn’t. Can you really be for life if you’re against abortion but for capital punishment and the death penalty? PS I’m just asking the question, not telling you what to think about this particular issue.

Remember that, as I heard it put so well today, regardless of who is elected in November, Jesus will be king. After that President and the next 50 after him are gone, Jesus will still be king.

I love the way Brennan Manning put it. I’ve used this quote before, but it speaks to what I’m trying to say very well:

“All religious and political systems, Right and Left alike, are the work of human beings. Abba’s children will not sell their birthright for any mess of pottage, conservative or liberal. They hold fast to their freedom in Christ to live the gospel-uncontaminated by cultural junk, political wreckage, and the complex hypocrisies of a bullying religion”

A Reminder for When I Feel Like Whining

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On the plus side, the benefit to having a cat is that you always have a little whine with every meal (insert rim shot here).

Today, I felt tempted to whine and complain. Then God brought to mind something I read a long time ago. It made enough of am impression for me to cut it out and paste it in my journal. I’m cutting and pasting it here. The poem is a bit dated, but the point it makes is not.

Today, upon a bus, I saw a lovely girl with golden hair,
I envied her….she seemed so gay….and wished I were so fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle.
She had one leg and wore a crutch; but as she passed….a smile!

Oh God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two legs.  The world is mine!

I stopped to buy some candy.  The lad who sold it had such charm.
I talked with him.  He seemed so glad.  If I were late, t’would do no harm.
And as I left, he said to me, “I thank you.  You have been so kind.
It’s nice to talk with folks like you.  You see,”  he said, “I’m blind.”

Oh God, forgive me when I whine.
I have two eyes.  The world is mine.

Later while walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue.
He stood and watched the others play.  I stopped a moment,
When I said, “Why don’t you join the others, Dear?”
He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew he could not hear.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine.
I have two ears, the world is mine.

With feet to take me where I’d go, with eyes to see the sunset’s glow,
with ears to hear what I would know….

Oh God forgive me when I whine.
I am blessed indeed.  The world is mine!

Those Reality Check Moments

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Maybe you’re like me and maybe you’re not. If you’re like me, then maybe you’ve had one of those reality check moments.

Those are the moments when you come to yourself and ask a question along these lines: “Did I really just do that?” “Did I really just say that?” “Did that thought really just cross my brain?”

Maybe you’ve followed up with the thought: “How can I really be saved if I just did/said/thought that? How can I really say I love Jesus and admit to that? I know Jesus can forgive sins, but will He really forgive me for that?”

It’s a scary vision when you catch a glimpse of what you would have been apart from the grace of God. It’s terrifying when you realize that there’s no evil or wickedness or vileness that you’re not capable of if left on your own apart from the saving power of the Cross in Jesus Christ.

I want to share with you something I just read from Brennan Manning that really blew my world apart (in a good way). It’s long, but it’s worth reading every single word.

“Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (see Revelation 7:9), I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Kat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me that she could find no other employment to support her two-year-old son. I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last ‘trick’, whispers the name of the unknown God he learned about in Sunday school.

‘But how?’ we ask.

Then the voice says, ‘They have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’

There they are. There *we* are – the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life’s tribulations, but through it all clung to faith.

My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace.”

 Remember that you were saved not because of your innate goodness or your fastidious rule-keeping, but by grace through faith. You and I can say with the murderer-turned-evangelist Paul,  “I am the chief of sinners, but that’s not who I really am. What I really am is a blood-bought child of God, dearly loved and paid for with a price much too high. I am redeemed, forgiven, righteous, innocent, and pure. I belong to Jesus. I am the Beloved.”

More Glorious Impossibilities

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First of all, yay for vacations. And boo for places that don’t have free wi-fi. Hence, the lack of blogging the last 4 days.

I did read an Advent devotional that pretty much rocked my world. It’s from a fantastic little book called The Christ of Christmas by Calvin Miller. It’s a 31-day devotional that covers the month of December. I shamelessly urge you to go out and buy it today.

The devotional I read centered on Elizabeth, who was geriatric and pregnant, and Mary, who was a virgin and pregnant. Two opposite ends of the spectrum, yet still recipients of the miraculous. The glorious impossible.

Like when you were once dead in sin and to every thing that really mattered in life, including God, but now you are gloriously more alive than you’ve ever been and awake to all the riches God has for you. Glorious impossibilities.

Like when you were stamped with failure and disaster, but God stamped you with His own signature, making you priceless, and called you BELOVED. Glorious impossibilities.

Or when you were a stranger and alone and had no one who understood you or your pain, but God has given you a forever family who walks with you through every possible joy or trial, where your joys are multiplied and your sorrows divided (my kind of math). Glorious impossibilities.

Like where the King of the Universe whom creation and everything in it could not possibly contain coming down as a tiny fetus into the womb of a 13-year old. This same God who knows your name, who saw your face in your darkest moment of weakness when even you couldn’t love yourself, and loved you and thought you were worth dying for.

Glorious impossibilities. The kind that you will see every day of your life if you keep your eyes open to all that God is up to in and around you. The kind that He will accomplish through you if you just give Him the tiniest bit of room to work and offer to Him the frailest of agreements.

The kind that made the Christmas season a reality.

The Way of Downward Mobility

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Tonight I was touched by these words from Henri Nouwen. I will let them speak to you the way they spoke to me, unedited and in his own words, not mine:

“Prayer means letting God’s creative love touch the most hidden places of our being and letting Jesus’ way of the cross, his way of downward mobility, truly become our way.  And prayer means listening with attentive, undivided hearts, to the inner movements of the Spirit of Jesus, even when that Spirit leads us to places we would rather not go. . . .

I say this with great compassion: we are living in an upwardly mobile society, a society in which making it to the top is expected in some degree of all of us. And aren’t we tempted to use even the Word of God to help us in this upward mobility? But that is not the way of God, the Father, Son, and Spirit. God’s way is not the way of upward mobility but of downward mobility. You know, as well as I do, that the question we will finally hear is not going to be: “How much did you earn during your lifetime?” or “How many friends did you make?” or “How much progress did you make in your career?” No, the question for us will be: “What did you do for the least of mine? What did you do for the lonely in your cities, the prisoners in your country, the refugees within and below your borders, and the hungry all over the world? Have you seen the humiliated Christ in the faces of the poor?”

God has chosen to be revealed in a crucified humanity. That is a very hard realization to come to, yet all authentic prayer will eventually lead us to it. I hope you are able to feel with me our hesitation to let God truly love us in God’s way and to respond fully with our whole being.”

Thoughts on Fighting From Victory (And not For It)

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chariots of fire

Today, God reminded me of something I knew but had forgotten. Lately, I’ve been praying for peace and stronger faith and for strength to overcome temptation and negative thinking.

I think what God was reminding me was that I already have these things in Christ. In Christ, I have everything I need for life and godliness, as it says in 1 Timothy. So maybe instead of praying for peace, I will claim the peace that passes all understanding.

Instead of praying for stronger faith, I will claim the promise that when I am weak, Christ is strong and that His strength works best in my weakness.

Instead of praying for the power to overcome temptation to anxiety and negative thinking, I will claim the verse that I can take every thought captive and take it to Jesus and leave it there. I’m not saying that I can claim a Bentley in faith and I will receive it. I am saying that God says to those who lack wisdom, to ask.

God says to keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking, and keep wrestling with God until He blesses you. The victory is won. The enemy is a defeated foe. Never forget that. Death no longer has the final word and the grave is only a temporary resting place. Jesus holds the keys to death and the grave and hell.

Live out of the victory that’s already yours and fight from it and not for it. Believe in faith the promises of God not only for yourself, but for those around you.

Pray strong for someone when that person can’t pray for themselves.

Above all, if we are the winning side, we should be the most joyous, grateful people on the planet. Our thankful hearts will be what gets the attention of the world around us who is still looking for meaning and hope.

They are waiting to see someone whose testimony is not just talked out, but walked out, too.

Fan Vs. Follower: My Thoughts So Far on Not A Fan

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I am reading the book Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. I finally broke down and bought the book after I heard several people talking about how awesome the book was. They weren’t wrong.

The book talks about how most people who claim to be committed followers of Jesus are really fair-weather fans. The difference between the two goes something like this (according to the book):

Fans are all about rules. Their faith is spelled ‘D-O’ and involves a lot of works and rituals and traditions. Followers are all about Jesus and not just knowing more about Him, but knowing Him more. They spell their faith ‘D-O-N-E’ and trust in what Jesus has already done for them on the cross.

Fans never deal with conflict. They either avoid the topic and pretend nothing’s wrong, avoid the person, or attack the person instead of the issue. Followers are learning to speak the truth in love and help restore the other to a right standing with God (or to repent themselves if they are in the wrong) and seek to rebuild the relationship.

Fans watch and criticize the methods of others, but never get involved or make sacrifices beyond what is convenient. Followers are willing to give of their time, their talent, their treasures, and if need be, their lives, for Christ on a daily basis.

Fans wear masks and pretend everything is fine. Fans never show weakness and always try to act stronger than they really are. Followers are not only aware of their weaknesses, but they boast in them, because that’s where God’s strength and power work best. Followers are authentic, if not all the time, then most of the time. What you see is who they are, even when no one is around.

I think if I were to place myself right now, I’d be more of a fan than a follower. I don’t really get my hands dirty and I have too much of a critical spirit. I am too worried about my own reputation and convenience. But by the grace of God, I am moving toward being a follower.

The good news is that you don’t have to be perfect or get it all right on day one. You won’t turn from fan to follower overnight. But if you say to Jesus, “I’m tired of playing games with you and wearing a mask and living by rules and religion. I need You to fill me and change me from the inside out. Be in me what I can’t be for myself. Empower me to not just believe in You, but to follow You wherever You lead. Amen.”