gospel

Not the End of the World

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I don’t know if you’ve ever done something incredibly stupid that you instantly regret. I mean the very instant you realize what you’ve done you’re hoping for one of those supernatural remote controls that let you rewind 30 second and replay the scene. Just me? Cool.

I know I’m not alone. I’ve had plenty of those moments where I still have no explanation for what I was thinking or why I did what I did, but so far in every single case up to this point, the world has not stopped turning. Civilization as we know it did not come to a screeching halt. We are all still here.

I love the fact that God, to put it bluntly, factored in our stupidity into His plans. The fact that over and over again the Bible refers to us as sheep isn’t because they’re cute and cuddly. It’s not because of their warm and gentle nature or their great personalities. They’re kinda dumb, to put it mildly.

But they have a great Shepherd. That’s what we also have in common. We have a God who is able to take our worst moments and mistakes and work even those into good. Somehow, those memories you wish you could erase forever become part of your testimony and the very means God uses to fulfill His purposes.

So remember that the planet looks exactly the same before and after your colossal blunder. God is not reacting out of shock or surprise. He knew before you were born not only your name and the number of hairs on your head but also how many dumb things you would do and say in your lifetime. And not one of them ended up screwing up His plan or ending the world.

Think about that as you lay your head on your pillow tonight, and sleep well. God is still in control.

Hatch or Go Bad

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“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for a bird to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity).

You’ve probably heard the age-old excuse for bad behavior — that’s just who I am, take it or leave it.

But the problem is that none of us can stay who we are indefinitely. We’re either moving toward or away from being better people. Or according to the Bible, we’re either becoming more like Christ or more like the world. Staying on the fence isn’t an option.

At some point, we’ve just got to hatch. We have to come out of our shells, so to speak. For many of us, that means becoming more vocal about what we believe, i.e. sharing our faith and having those gospel conversations. It means we can’t expect people to read our minds and our actions to guess what we believe. We have to tell them.

I can’t find where the Bible says that faith comes from seeing our faith acted out. While living what we believe is important and is what shows our faith to be genuine, what people need is to hear our faith proclaimed. We’re supposed to be ready to give an answer for anyone who wonders about the hope we have in Christ.

The problem is that many believers have never grown. They’re still babies in the faith. They never pray or read their Bibles. They don’t know very much about what they believe, much less why they believe it. Too many of them are fair fame for false teaching and cults. Too many are too willing to compromise convictions and doctrine over the illusion of peace and fitting in.

Basically, we all need to grow up. We need to move on from spiritual baby food to being able to feed ourselves on the Word of God and spiritually discern what’s good and what’s false. We need to live lives that will make others ask questions about why we’re different and what makes us different in the best way possible.

Lord, get us out of our shells, so that we can learn what it means to soar like eagles. Help us to grow up in You, so that we know what Your will is and what Your word says, so we can be faithful witnesses to those who need to know You. Amen.

Chris Johnson and Mortality

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For those of us long-suffering Tennessee Titans fans, Chris Johnson was one of the few bright spots in a history filled with a lot of bad teams who were often painful to watch. He was an electric presence on the football field and still holds the NFL record for yards from scrimmage in a single season, set way back in 2009.

It broke my heart when I discovered that he’s currently battling ALS, a nervous system disease that shuts down the body and leaves the person completely incapacitated. I watched the Good Morning America interview with him and Michael Strahan where he couldn’t speak and and to communicate through a computer controlled through eye movements. In a year, he went from relatively healthy to not able to pick up a cup of water. He’s 39 years old.

But I often forget that no one is promised tomorrow. No one is guaranteed 70-80 years of life. I’ve known way too many who didn’t make it to old age, so I don’t ever want to take for granted that I made it to 54. In fact, I’m thankful for every single day that God gives me.

I don’t know where Chris Johnson stands with Christ. I don’t know if he’s a believer, though I’m praying that he is. I do know that hs time left on this earth is limited, but every single person ever born under the sun can say the same. We all have a limited timespan. In the perspective of eternity, our lives, even those that pass 100, are like the dash between the birth year and death year — very short.

But for those who belong to Jesus, who said yes to Jesus to forgive their sins and be their Lord and Savior, death is just a doorway to everlasting life and forever in a place called heaven where God Himself dwells and where there is no more COVID or cancer or AIDS or ALS.

I’m praying for a miracle for Chris. I’m sure many others are as well. It would be an amazing testimony if God healed him of his ALS. But I also know God is not beholden to heal Chris or anyone else. We live in a beautiful but broken world that feels the effects of sin every single day. People get sick and die. People get hurt and die. That’s the reality of life on this side of eternity.

But I’m thankful that this is not all there is. Jesus told us He’s been preparing a place for us since He ascended into heaven nearly 2,000 years ago. I can’t want to see it. I can’t wait to see all those I loved who are there now. Most of all, I can’t wait to see Jesus. More than any pearly gates or golden streets, He’s the one who makes heaven heaven. I hope and pray that everyone reading these words has an assurance of salvation and a future eternity in heaven. If not, it’s not too late while you’re still breathing to choose Christ.

The Perfect Church Service

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Jim Cymbala in his book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire said something that floored me. If you walk away from any church service praising the sermon or the music, then that church has failed. If you’re focusing on the human elements of any worship gathering, the church has not done its job.

Ideally, the response to any worship service isn’t how great we are as a congregation or how great our ministry staff is, but how great is our God. As I read recently, our Sunday meetings can easily slip into Christiak karaoke followed by Ted talks with tithes if we’re not careful.

The key is to allow room for the Holy Spirit to move. Too many churches have programmed their services down to the last second leaving no space for the Holy Spirit to speak to people’s hearts and minds. I for once am not advocating for two hour services, but I do think that sometimes we could be just as attentive to the gentle whisper of the Spirit as we are to the worship schedule.

I also think that we (especialy me) need a shift in our mentality about worship. If our goal is to meet with God, then it shouldn’t matter if the songs were hundred year old hymns or the latest CCLI worship songs. It shouldn’t matter that the pastor made all his points start with the same letter or not.

Our goal is not a great sermon or a deeper worship experience through carefully cultivated worship playlists but to encounter the living and holy God. He’s the true audience of any worship service, not us. Otherwise, it’s just another concert or music event with no more benefit than if we’d stayed home and listened to a Christian Spotify playlist or watched a televised sermon from some famous preacher.

Lord, as we prepare to meet You tomorrow in our places of worship, move in our hearts to yearn for You and You only. Give us eyes to see You and ears to hear from You that You might speak a word to us tomorrow and we could walk away from the gathering different than when we arrived. Speak, Lord, for Your servants are listening. Amen.

Gut-Level Honest Prayers

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“God, listen to me shout, bend an ear to my prayer.
When I’m far from anywhere,
down to my last gasp,
I call out, “Guide me
up High Rock Mountain!”

“You’ve always given me breathing room,
a place to get away from it all,
A lifetime pass to your safe-house,
an open invitation as your guest.
You’ve always taken me seriously, God,
made me welcome among those who know and love you.

“Let the days of the king add up
to years and years of good rule.
Set his throne in the full light of God;
post Steady Love and Good Faith as lookouts,
And I’ll be the poet who sings your glory—
and live what I sing every day” (Psalm 61, The Message).

I’m up to the Psalms in my yearly Bible reading. They were originally the equivalent of a hymnal for God’s people back in the days before Jesus. You could also call the Psalms the prayer book of the Bible. Many of them were penned by King David, who never was one to mince words with God. They’re honest. They’re raw. They’re confessional. They’re sometimes not very pretty.

I think we lose something when we try to “pretty up” our prayers to make them more presentable before God. After all, He already knows what you’re thinking when you’re heart is breaking and you’re still trying to use flowery language because you somehow think those kinds of prayers are more acceptable to God. I confess I’m guilty of that one.

Prayer is the one place you can be honest. You can be real. I do think that you should still be reverent and not make Jesus your homeboy, but I also think God can handle your emotions and your frustrations.

Prayer doesn’t have to be pretty. Prayer doesn’t have to be proper. What prayer does need to be is authentic. Don’t tell God what you think He wants to hear. Tell Him where you are and how you feel and where you want to be. The key in every prayer is to say, “Not my will but Thine.”

That’s the prayer that never fails. You’re saying to God, “I know that You know better than I do what’s good for me and what will make me more like Jesus. You still work all things together for good, so I can trust You with my life.”

The best way to get good at praying isn’t to read more books about praying (although that can be super helpful). The best way isn’t to attend all sorts of seminars and listen to all kinds of sermons about prayer (which again can be useful). The best way to get good at praying is to pray.

I mean pray all the time. Pray whenever it comes to mind. Pray when you feel like it. Pray when you don’t. Pray when the words flow. Pray when there are no words. To borrow the old Nike slogan, just pray.

Revisiting Rivendell

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Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Audible. The latest listen is The Lord of the Rings, one of my favorite books ever. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve either read or listened to this trilogy (which technically is really one book divided into three parts). I always forget how incredible the story is and how Tolkien created an entire world complete with mythology and languages out of his own imagination.

For me, revisiting a favorite book is like going to a familiar spot on vacation. You know what to expect. You know what’s coming. Yet there are those moments you forgot that come back to mind once you start the book. And this is one case where as much as I really liked the movies, the books were way better.

I always used to imagine what it would be like to go on a quest like the one Frodo and friends end up on. Part of me still thinks it might be exciting, but the whole sleeping on the ground is a bit less appealing than it used to be. I’d prefer the comfy dwellings of Bag End with all its Hobbit furnishings and multiple meals and so forth. I do feel that I am a Hobbit at heart.

But also there is so much of the gospel in these books. So many of the characters have Christlike qualities and make noble sacrifices for the good of the company. Plus, there’s the whole good versus evil theme that never grows old.

I recommend starting with The Hobbit (or if you’re really adventurous and brave, start with The Silmarillion, which gives you a rich and detailed historyfor how Middle Earth came into being). It helps if you’re reading to find a hardback copy with good illustrations. It help to visualize what you’re reading.

If that makes me a nerd, so be it. At least for the next few weeks, I’m a happy nerd.

Another Post About Worship

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“To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God; to feed the mind with the truth of God; to purge the imagination by the beauty of God; to open the heart to the love of God; to devote the will to the purpose of God” (William Temple).

My absolute favorite definition of worship is still the one by Louie Giglio. Worship is giving God His breath back. The more I think about that one, the more I love it. There’s so much to unpack with worship being our response back to God with the very breath He put in our lungs.

But this is a good one. I really like this one because it encompasses all that worship is. We do tend to limit worship to Sunday mornings or the occasional worship night. Most of us use worship and praise interchangeably, but worship is more than singing songs.

As I’ve said before, worship is declaring the worth of God in every area of your life. You proclaim the goodness of God in the workplace by doing your job well. You proclaim the goodness of God in your home by loving your wife and family more than yourself and loving God more than your wife and family.

I believe that you can’t just show up on Sunday and expect worship to happen. If it’s not already a part of your everyday life throughout the week, then when you show up on Sunday, you’re just singing songs and going through the motions. Anyone can manipulate a feeling, but true worship goes beyond an emotional experience.

Lord, help us to worship You in spirit and in truth in everything we do. May we declare Your worth every time we open our mouths, whether it’s in song or encouragement or exhortation or simply breathing back Your breath. Help us to remember that it all came from You and it all belongs to You and that we have nothing apart from You, but You love us still. Amen.

The Deepest Spiritual Lessons

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“The deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able honestly to pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done” (Elisabeth Elliot).

If anyone knew about deep spiritual lessons, it was Elisabeth Elliot. She was twice widowed and her life was never an easy one from her birth until the day God called her home. But she learned so much wisdom that she was able to impart to so many others, including me. Her legacy of faith has outlived her and still speaks to the goodness and faithfulness of God.

I’ve learned the hard way that sometimes me not getting my own way is not only good but a blessing. I sometimes look back and thank God for saving me from my own desires and from me getting what I thought I wanted or even needed at the time which probably would have destroyed me.

The older I get, the more I understand that God knows way better than I what’s good for me. The older I get, the more I find myself praying that old prayer that never fails: Thy will be done. It’s the only prayer that has yet to steer me wrong.

Look at the disciples. None of them had any idea when they started with Jesus what the rest of their lives would look like. All but one ended up being martyred for the faith, and the last one ended up as a lonely exile on the island of Patmos. But again, their legacy lasted far longer and still speaks hundreds of years later.

That’s it. The simplest and best prayer to pray when you don’t know what else to pray is Your will be done. Even when you have a good idea of what you want from God, it’s best to caveat it with Your will be done. I’d rather have God disrupt every single one of my own plans and desires if it means His will for my life is accomplished.

Lord, have Your way in every one of Your children. Teach us to love what You love, and desire what You desire. Above all, Your will be done in us and through us. Amen.

Hey June

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Admit it. You didn’t just read those words. You sang them. I know I did (at least in my head). But can anyone pinch me because when did June get here and where did April and May go?

In less than three weeks, we’ll hit the day with the most daylight in it (which also happens to be the official first day of summer). After that, the countdown to Christmas is on. Well, at least for me it is. Most of you have other anniversaries and holidays on your radar, but since I am afflicted with Obsessive Christmas Disorder, then that’s where I’m focusing.

I keep thinking a lot about what my boss at my old job used to say: any day without a toe tag is a good day. I like it, but I think it’s not necessarily all good. For those who belong to Jesus, to live is Christ and to die is gain. It’s a win-win. So while not having a toe tag is a good day, maybe the day you and I get our toe tags might be sad for some, but it will be our best day ever.

Also, I want to apologize to any olden people for making fun of you when I was a kid when you said that time flies. I get it now. It does. The older I get, the faster it goes. At the same time, the older I get, the more I realize the less I need to be content. You know the old saying that you can’t take your toys and possessions with you when you die. There are no hearses pulling U-Hauls that I’ve seen lately.

Hello, June! Try not to be too hot and humid right away. I like to dip my foot in the shallow end of summer before I jump in. Send more breezes because it helps me sweat less and everyone around me in the vicinity of my armpits appreciates that. Oh, and less bugs this year would be great. Thanks!

Drown Out the Noise

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“…new week coming and yeah, do I hear you. It’s all coming at you & you can hear this voice that says you can’ t do it & it’s all a bit impossible, just too hard.

And there’s this in the quiet: To silence the other voices in your head all day, You need God’s Word in your heart at the beginning of your day.

His Word that holds you close & whispers:

“I’ve never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love & more love! I will strengthen you. I will take you by the hand & guide you.

I’ll never let you down, never walk off & leave you. I am with you, ready to help.

Live fearless — Who or what can get past Me to get to you? I promise, every detail in your life of love for Me, will be worked into something good”

(Jeremiah 31:3MSG, 1Pet2:9, Eph3:14, Jn16:12, Heb.13:5,Ro8:28)

Hear that? God’s got this — *and you.*

*Never* let the noise of the world around you,

drown out *God’s Word* about you — His voice about you & this week is all that matters!

#PreachingGospeltoMyself“

I read recently that we consume the same amount of information in 30 minutes that our grandparents took in over the course of a month. That’s crazy. No wonder we’re overwhelmed. We’re literally living in the middle of a TMI epidemic. At some point, it’s too much information for one brain to process successfully.

Maybe that’s why it’s good to turn off the noise. Shut off the laptop. Turn off the phone. Pick up the Bible. Or sit in silence and make space for God to speak to you. Give your mind a chance to recover the same way you give your muscles a day to recover after an intense workout.

Ultimately, the way to peace is not doom-scrolling for hour. It’s not even taking in good information through social media. It’s learning to shut everything off and be comfortable in the quiet and stillness. After all, God didn’t speak to Elijah in the whirlwind or in the storm or in any of the noisy events but in a small still voice that Elijah would have missed had he been preoccupied with his own thoughts or distracted by noise.

Lord, we yearn for You. We know the best way to find You is to sit quiet and still so that we can learn to hear from You instead of being overwhelmed by the 9,999 other voices that clamor for our attention all day. Give us peace as we give You time to speak to us and over us. Amen.