A Letter from Jesus Christ

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This was written by a sixteenth-century Catholic monk named John of Landsburg. This spoke volumes to me today when I read it in A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller.

“I know those moods when you sit there utterly alone, eaten up with unhappiness, in a pure state of grief. You don’t move towards me but desperately imagine that everything you have ever done has been utterly lost or forgotten.  This near despair and self-pity are actually a form of pride. What you think was a state of absolute security from which you’ve fallen was really trusting too much in your own strength and ability. Profound depression and perplexity of mind often follow on a loss of hope, when what really ails you is that things simply haven’t happened as you expected or wanted.

“In fact, I don’t want you to rely on your own strength and abilities and plans, but to distrust them and to distrust yourself and to trust me and no one and nothing else. As long as you rely on yourself you are bound to come to grief.  You still have a most important lesson to learn; your own strength will no more help you to stand upright than propping yourself on a broken reed. You must not despair of me. You may hope and trust in me absolutely. My mercy is infinite….”

If I could add anything, it would be that the economy of faith, weakness and dependence are good things. Utter helplessness leads to desparate prayers which God hears. As long as we’re self-sufficient, we will never really and truly pray. Only when we come to the end of ourselves do we reach out.

I’m learning it’s okay to be weak and dependent and helpless because that’s where I find that God is my strength and my source and my ever-present help. And for the record, all of this is from A Praying Life, which you should go buy and read now.

 

Ten Years Ago Today

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It’s been ten years ago today. Really? Ten years? I can hardly believe it’s been that long.

Ten years ago my boss called me into his office where the television showed the first images of the first building being hit by the plane. No one knew what was happening and it all seemed so surreal.

Ten years ago I remember being shellshocked at something like this acutally happening on American soil and so many people losing their lives.

Ten years ago, everything changed and we knew even then things would never ever be the same.

Ten years ago, we found something to unite us all as Americans.

Ten years ago, those of us with eyes to see caught a glimpse of the vulnerability and temporal nature of earthly kingdoms. No kingdom of this world lasts forever.

Ten years ago, God was still on His throne and still in control. Ten years later, He still is.

Ten years ago, the final page in God’s own Book had been written and it hasn’t changed since then.

One day, whether it be tomorrow or ten days or ten years or ten thousand years, this world will end.

One day, Jesus will come back.

One day, everything wrong will be put back right and everything we’ve lost will be restored. One day, the good and pure and just will triumph for good.

Remember this. No terrorist or weapon or army or anything else in this world can separate us from the love of God. Not even death can keep God’s love from us.

That was true ten years ago and that’s still true today and that will be true ten years from now. And forever.

By the Numbers

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I am not a math person. I’ve heard the joke that goes like this. There are three kinds of people in the world: those who are good at math and those who aren’t. I can relate to that. But I do like numbers, because numbers mean something. Like these

10 – That’s how many years it will have been tomorrow since the terrible and tragic events of 9/11. The world changed forever on that day.

4 – That’s how many hits I had on my blog on Thursday, according to the good people who keep track of these things at WordPress.

0 – That’s how many times I’ve thought about giving up writing my blog. Heck, I’d do it even if it were just for me.

1,000,000,000,000 – That is how many second chances you get from God and how many times you can totally mess up and fall down and still get forgiveness and grace.

0.00 – That’s the percent of the chance that God will ever give up on you.

110 – That is the percentage of how much God loves you, is in love with you, and is just plain crazy about you.

20- That’s how many years it’s been since I graduated from high school.

1- That’s how many steps to take at a time, how many deep breaths to take, and how many days to survive to get through the hard stuff. Just 1.

66- That’s how many love letters from Home you get from God. They are all worth reading.

86 – It means to remove or to end something. Like this blog.

Thanks again for reading. I hope more than anything that these blogs will help you see that what matters in this life is knowing two things: 1) that you belong to your Abba Father and 2) He is still very fond of you. If I can get you to believe that, then I will count this blog a success.

 

Good Music and True Love

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“Love’s not a feeling Love’s not convenient
But I know love will change your life
Love takes sacrifice Love cuts like a knife
Sometimes love will make you cry
Love’s not easy But it’s worth it” (Francesca Battistelli)

This is the chorus from a really good song I heard in the car today. It talked about real love. Not the “ooh, I want you and I’ll die if I don’t have you right now” kind of love. Not the “you make me feel warm and fuzzy” kind. The “love is not convenient or easy and will cost you all you have, but it’s worth it” kind.

True love isn’t easy. It isn’t convenient. It isn’t something you fall into. True love is a choice you make, whether you feel like it or not. True love says “I’m all in”, regardless.

True love is Jesus, who was in the form of God, taking the form of a human and a slave, for you. True love is Jesus who would rather die for you than live without you (thanks to Max Lucado for that one).

Hollywood gets it wrong by making love less than what it really is. It’s not just feelings. It’s choosing to love when the feelings aren’t there.

I’ve come to this conclusion. I can’t really love anyone this way on my own. No one can. Love means giving without expectation of receiving anthing in return. Love means my needs come second. Love means I do whatever it takes to bring out God’s best in you.

That’s something I can’t do. Or you.

We need a love that’s stronger than death, that’s bigger than any doubt, that’s gentle enough to hold shattered hearts and broken lives.

Paul talks about the love of God poured into human hearts. That’s what we need to love anybody. We need hearts full and overflowing with 180 proof vintage Love as only God could make it.

“Love not of you
Love not of me
Come hold us up
Come set us free
Not as we know it
But as it can be” (Sara Groves).

That’s true love.

God’s Family Tree

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Every family has at least one person who has a checkered past. Every family has that one person whose name, when brought up in coversation, immediately reduces everyone to whsipers and furtive looks. The one everyone talks about and shakes their head and says things like, “Bless their heart.”

I bet you never thought about the fact that God has a family tree, too. He does. And His family tree has a few names that would cause some people to blush. He has a liar, a cheat, a whore, and a despised foreigner among the list.

The liar is Abraham, who twice lied about Sarah being his sister rather than his wife to save his own skin.

The cheat is Jacob who tricked his brother Esau into selling his birthright for a cup of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup.

The whore is Rahab whose redeeming act was to hide the Israelite spies and cast her lot with God’s people over her own people.

The despised foreigner is Ruth, one of the Moabites that were on Israel’s bad side ever since they didn’t let God’s people pass through their land when Israel was in the wilderness.

All these people had a part in bringing about the arrival of the Messiah. What to the world were a bunch of rejects and outcasts became a part of God’s story.

We too get to be  a part of the story God is telling. We are invited to be His children. We are the living love letters that God writes to the world to show just how strong He is to rescue and save anyone. We are the ones whose transformed lives are the best advertisement for how God’s love conquers all.

Remember that the next time your own story doesn’t seem to be going well. Your story is about more than just you. You get to be a part of something so much bigger and better than you.

And besides, I happen to have read the last page on the story and [SPOILER ALERT] WE WIN!!!

 

The Simple Life

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I always liked the initials KISS, which stand for Keep in Simple, Stupid. Those words are a good reminder to those of us who profess Jesus as Lord and Savior.

We do have a tendancy to complicate things. We add as many rules and obligations as the Pharisees did back in Jesus’ day. Sometimes we make it more difficult for people to find their way to Jesus, adding cultural and political baggage to the mix.

Jesus simply said, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” It’s that simple.

I’m not saying following Jesus is easy. It’s hard sometimes to take up that cross daily and to die to myself and to love my enemies and all that. But it’s never complicated.

I love how Henri Nouwen summarized the Gospel in one sentence: “You are the beloved of God.” It really is all about God loving you so much that He sent Jesus for you so that you wouldn’t be lost and broken forever. The Gospel says that it’s never too late to turn around and fall into the arms of Jesus. It’s never too late to start over and be transformed by the radical love of Jesus.

It’s so simple that I need to be reminded every day of just how simple it really is. I need the Gospel daily to remember where I was when Jesus found me and where I am now in the process of sanctification, and where I’m headed.

I need the reminder that God looks at me and sees Jesus. He sees perfection. He sees holiness. He sees His child.

One little exercise that has helped me greatly is to repeat the little phrase over and over. I breathe in and say, “Abba Father, I belong to You.” I breathe out and say “Abba Father, You are very fond of me.”

I hope that helps you to remind yourself that at least one thing out there isn’t so convoluted and complicated: Jesus’ love.

Help Wanted

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Help wanted: people to be My Church and My witnesses to the uttermost ends of the earth.

Good looks and popularity are not necessary. People skills are optional. Talent and charisma and charm are also optional.

Looking for authentic, broken people who want Me more than anything and want My kingdom more than any political or personal agenda. Seeking those who hurt with the lost, weep with those who mourn, and reach out to the castaways.

Must be willing to sell everything and give it to the poor. Must be willing to love me so much that your love for father and mother seems like hate in comparison. Must be willing to drink My blood and eat My flesh.

Most of all, seeking those whose heart breaks for what breaks Mine. Looking for those who are surrendered and available for Me to use whenever and however I choose.

Must take up the cross and follow Me.

Must seek to worship Me in spirit and in truth.

Will take anyone who will simply say YES to me and what I did for them on the cross. Will take anyone who puts faith in me as Lord and Savior.

Wanted: people who will be vessels of my extravagant love, to be filled to overflowing so that it spills out onto everyone they meet. Need people who will realize that my love can change and transform anyone and overcome anything.

Wanted: you.

— Jesus

The Help: What’s So Evil About the Status Quo

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I saw the movie The Help today and was reminded about how not so long ago it was socially acceptable to treat certain people differently because of their skin color. I’m sure there were many back then who were opposed to such discrimination, but went along with it any way rather than buck the system.

I was also reminded that saying that all evil needs is for good men (or women) to do nothing. I also was reminded that it really only takes one person to make a difference. Just one.

Sure, times have changed. Yet in some ways, they really haven’t. Maybe it’s not discrimination. Maybe it’s more like sacrificing family for career. Or maybe it’s playing religion instead of really following Jesus. Every generation has a choice, I think, to be a part of the status quo or to speak out.

I think from what I understand of the Bible that God is for those who are outside the status quo. His heart is for the outsider and the outcast. He is for the rejects and the nobodies. He chose the nothings of the world to shame the A-listers of the world.

I love the way Bono of U2 put it. He said, “”God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them”

So the question remains: will you choose to remain silent and stick with the status quo or will you speak up and stand up for the defensless and the hopeless and the outcast?

I can look in my mirror and see one of the guily party looking back. I haven’t spoken up. I have been silent for far too long.

Lord, give us courage to speak for those who have no voice and to defend those who can’t defend themselves. Give us Your heart for the outcast and the broken. Especially me.

 

 

Name

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The sermon today at Fellowship Bible Church made me think of an old Goo Goo Dolls song, Name. Normally, sermons and the Goo Goo Dolls don’t go together, but for me they did.

The verses from Luke 8:40-56 centered around a man named Jairus whose daughter was very sick and a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. The pastor pointed out that the woman didn’t have a name. She was simply known for her ailment.

She was ceremonially unclean. That meant she could never worship in the temple. That meant anyone she touched would also be unclean. She was alone, unwanted, and untouchable. She was an outcast.

But she was also desparate. She wouldn’t let anything stop her from getting to this Jesus that she had heard could make blind men see and lame men walk and dead men live. Nothing mattered more to her than getting to Jesus. That’s real faith.

As for the fact that she had no name, Scriptures tell us that she did after she met Jesus. We may not know the name she was given at birth, but we know the name Jesus gave her. “Daughter, your faith has made you well.”

Daughter. No longer outcast. No longer unwanted. No longer unclean.

Jesus purposely chose the outcasts and nobodies of the day to be His followers and ambassadors and He still does today. He chooses the ones with the sordid past. He picks the ones with a history. He woos the ones that no one else wants to touch. He chooses you and me.

Not only that, but He gives us a new name. No longer are you Screw-up or Failure or Trash or Hopeless. You are Son. You are Daughter. You are known now for Who you belong to and Who loves you more than anyone else could ever love you.

Maybe the next time you hear that Goo Goo Dolls song, you will hear it differently. The next time you hear the names people call you, you will remember the one and only name that matters. The one God calls you that trumps every other name.

BELOVED.

The Pretender (Not Just a Great Song by Jackson Browne Anymore)

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Ok, I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to be as honest as possible. Here goes. Have you ever felt like you were pulling the wool over everybodys’ eyes, where they thought you had it all together and you really deep down inside felt like you had no control over anything and no clue whatsoever? Raise your hand if you have.

I know it feels dorky to be sitting alone in front of your computer monitor (or laptop) in the dark with your hand raised, but do it anyway. I just did. I felt really good (and a little bit awkward, too).

You are not alone if you feel like you are fooling everyone.

You are not alone if you feel like you’re pretending to be successful when you feel like you’re failing at every possible turn and messing up everything.

You’re not alone if you walk around with a grown-up exterior, but still feel like a scared little 1o-year old, still afraid of the same things and still believing the same lies you believed back then.

You are not alone if you have a fear deep down inside that someone will see though your saintly Christianity and expose all those sordid and angry thoughts you keep hidden inside.

You won’t be alone because I’ve been there, too. That makes two of us. And I would bet money that there’s more (but I’m Baptist, so I don’t believe in betting real money. Betting Monopoly money is OK in my translation of the Bible, though).

God knows. God sees all the fear and the anger. He sees what’s behind the curtain and what’s beneath the mask. He know your mess better than you do. And the real kicker? He loves you more than you could possibly imagine.

I heard someone say that Jesus didn’t come to accuse or condemn you, but to love you and transform you.

That’s good news. That’s worth being real and honest.