Ragamuffin Gospel

That Green Elephant in the Room

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As the old saying goes, comparison is the thief of joy. Nothing robs your peace and contentment more than falling into the trap of comparing your life to someone else’s and letting jealousy take over.

I confess that I get a little envious from time to time. That’s when I notice that I’m less joyful and more stressed. That’s when I start believing that all the good things in my life that I’m waiting for must happen immediately, and I must be the one to make them happen.

The antidote is still gratitude for your own life. Giving thanks goes a long way toward helping you from seeing life as a competition and making it easier to celebrate other people’s victories instead of letting bitterness set in.

God’s will for your life is still to “rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV). If you make those a daily habit, you won’t have time to play the comparison game or to be overcome by envy.

 

Resolved

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Tonight, I heard one of the minsters in residence speak at an event. He mentioned one of his favorite dead theologians and authors, Jonathan Edwards, had made some resolutions.

Originally, my goal was to reproduce them all here, but after a little research, I found that would make for a mighty long blog post, so I’m picking a few that strike me:

“Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.”

“Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.”

“Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.”

“Resolved, never to suffer the least motions of anger to irrational beings.”

“Resolved, never to say anything at all against anybody, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of Christian honor, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said anything against anyone, to bring it to, and try it strictly by the test of this Resolution.”

“Resolved, never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession, which I cannot hope God will accept.”

“Resolved, to improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.”

“Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.”

Maybe this will inspire you (or me) to make our own new resolutions. It doesn’t have to wait until next January 1. It’s never too early or too late to change and make a new start.

 

Love That Says No

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“Love loves unto purity. Love has ever in view the absolute loveliness of that which it beholds. Therefore all that is not beautiful in the beloved, all that comes between and is not of love’s kind, must be destroyed. And our God is a consuming fire” (George MacDonald).

I think as a society we’ve turned love into a vague kind of permissiveness that tolerates anything and has no will of its own, a thinly disguised kind of lust that puts self-gratification above all else.

Not so with the ruthless, radical, relentless love of God. Not so with the love that took Jesus to a bloody death on a cross.

I’m finding out in my own life that this love of God, while pure and perfect and good, won’t tolerate anything but God’s very best for me.

While I’ve received God’s YES in Jesus, often that YES means a No to lesser desires and wants in my life. Sometimes, they’re bad and harmful. Sometimes they’re good. But just as bad is an enemy of good, so can good be an enemy of the best.

I still believe that the times God has said no to my prayers have been great mercies, maybe even more so than when He says yes. He’s kept me from finding the end result of me getting my own way, which usually doesn’t turn out well. Especially since I’m not always certain that I actually know what I want.

God will burn away anything in me that’s not pure and lovely. The bad, the ugly, and yes, sometimes the good. That’s what hurts the most.

Maybe the best kind of love is that which seeks to bring out the best in others and won’t settle for anything less. That’s God’s kind of love. The kind that sometimes says no.

 

Why I Still Love Grace

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My pastor has said many times that grace is when you take that moment that you swore you’d never tell another living soul and that becomes the first line of your testimony.

Grace doesn’t mean that sin doesn’t matter and that God really doesn’t mind when you transgress.

Grace does mean that you don’t get what your sins and transgressions deserve.

Grace means that Jesus got what all your sins and transgressions deserve, and you get all that belongs to Jesus.

Man, I do love grace.

Love and Happiness (and Peace)

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“A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. . . .There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way. . . God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There us no such thing” (CS Lewis).

Apart from God, nothing can make me happy.

Not a job, not a relationship, not a big house, not a new car, not all the money in the world.

In theory, it sounds so very simple, yet in practice, it can be a bit difficult to realize.

Maybe it’s all the commercials telling me how I can’t be happy and satisfied until I buy this product or that service or eat this food.

Maybe it’s my own human nature that constantly craves and desires and yearns for more stuff.

Whatever it is, I keep forgetting that only God can bring true peace and joy.

God, please keep reminding me that you are my true life. You are the only living water that satisfies, apart from all the broken cisterns in my life that hold only sand and ashes.

 

 

Happy Last Day of April

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I sincerely repent of all the times as a kid when I laughed and made fun of old people for always talking about how fast time goes by. They were right. And now I’m old. Well, older.

Which brings me to the fact that tomorrow is officially May.

That means that we’re officially 1/3 of the way through 2018.

Not only will tomorrow be the first day of May, it will also be the 8th anniversary of the flooding that took place in Nashville on May 1-2, 2010.

Where did that 8 years go? Man, those old people were right again. At least I get to make fun of the funny clothes they wore back in the day, just like someone down the road will look at my fashion sense and roll on the floor laughing at me.

I can still remember seeing all the flood waters, especially in the downtown area. I recall hearing about how Opry Mills had being overrun with flood waters. I couldn’t even get out of my neighborhood to get to work that day. It was insane.

Looking back has given me a little perspective. Like the fact that I’m able to look back. The flood waters left and Nashville is still here. I still remember the words written on a garage door on a street where the flood waters had done the most damage: “Storms pass, love shines, we survive.” Those floods are in the past and you and I are still here.

Philip Yancey wrote, “Faith is believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.”

You don’t get the benefit of all the hindsight and 20/20 vision from looking back on something until you’ve lived through it. Faith is believing God’s promises as though they had already come to pass. In fact, faith is knowing that God’s future is so certain that it can be spoken of in the present tense.

Speaking of time flying, there are only 239 days until Christmas, so you best get to shoppin’.

Just Stay Calm

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I just found out today that my car has been deemed a total loss.

I was in a fender bender last Wednesday on my way to work, and apparently the damages exceeded they value they assessed to my car. That doesn’t take much when you drive a vintage vehicle.

But to me that red Jeep is worth more than a numerical value based on age and wear. I’ve been through a lot of life in that 1997 Jeep Cherokee.

I’m not ready to let go just yet.

So I’m praying.

I don’t know if it’s theologically correct to pray about things like cars, but I’m praying. I believe that God says to come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need. Not just for what you and I consider the major events and the important stuff.

I think it means to come all the time. To pray without ceasing until praying is as natural and automatic as breathing. To bring my need to the God who cares for the lowliest of sparrows.

I can’t imagine how this scenario with my car will play out favorably, but I will bring my request before the Father in heaven and let Him do the fighting.

I’m more than a little stressed at the moment. It’s my default setting, and try as I might to pray verses and claim God’s promises that perfect love casts out fear, I’m still worried sick.

I’m taking my mustard seed-sized faith and trusting that God will do not what I want but what’s best. In the end, I always find that God’s best is what I would have wanted from the start had I been wise enough to look from a broader perspective. God’s best easily surpasses the wildest and biggest imaginings of my heart.

Now I will wait and see and trust and hope.

 

Be At Rest

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“God is at work. He does not slumber.
Christ intercedes. He does not fail.
The Spirit comforts. He does not forsake.
Be at rest. Be at peace.
Your name at the end of the day is Beloved” (Ann Voskamp).

You and I can be at rest and have peace, even on those Mondays when our devices aren’t working, when our circumstances don’t cooperate with our plans, and when fear and anxiety seem to have the upper hand in our thoughts.

We can rest because we know that our identity is not what we do but who we are. Or whose we are.

All the diplomas and titles and honors and rewards in the world count for nothing apart from Christ, and nothing is lost if you lose everything and still have Jesus.

That is peace. That is rest.

 

Good Borrowed Words on a Rainy Sunday

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“It should be plain .  . . that the One we preach is not Christ-in-a-vacuum, nor a mystical Christ unrelated to the real world, nor even only the Jesus of ancient history, but rather the contemporary Christ who once lived and died, and now lives to meet human need in all its variety today. To encounter Christ is to touch reality and experience transcendence. He gives us a sense of self-worth or personal significance, because he assures us of God’s love for us. He sets us free from guilt because he died for us, from the prison of our own self-centredness by the power of his resurrection, and from paralysing fear because he reigns, all the principalities and powers of evil having been put under his feet. He gives meaning to marriage and home, work and leisure, personhood and citizenship. He introduces us into his new community, the new humanity he is creating. He challenges us to go out into some segment of the world which does not acknowledge him, there to give ourselves in witness and service for him. He promises us that history is neither meaningless nor endless, for one day he will return to terminate it, to destroy death and to usher in the new universe of righteousness and peace” (John Stott, Between Two Worlds).

This is the Christ who once said, “If you don’t take up your cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciples,” because He knew that it’s better to save your own soul and lose everything else than to gain the whole world and lose your soul in the process.

It’s a good reminder for me on a rainy Sunday in April when hope for many can seem like its a million miles away.  Hope has come and has never left. He’s still here.

 

Another Serving Saturday

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I have a feeling I’m going to be sore in the morning. But it was worth it.

I took part in Engage Middle Tennessee, a serving Saturday for all the regional campuses of Brentwood Baptist Church.

I chose to help out with Monroe Harding. I found out this morning that we’d be moving dirt that got dumped into their driveway.

I pictured the kind of soil that you put around flower beds and thought, “This won’t be too bad. I might actually break a little sweat.”

Little did I know that the dirt in question was to fill in an old swimming pool. This dirt consisted of more rocks than dirt.

I think I broke more than a little sweat. I can’t remember the last time I did so much manual labor.

Depending on how soon the ibuprofen I took kicks in, I might be feeling achy and old in the morning. But I can say without question that it was worth it.

The family we served has adopted three children and fosters several more. They probably expend more energy on a daily basis than I did today. They probably have more than a few mornings where they wake up sore and achy. But I’m sure they’d do all of it over again for the sake of these kids. I believe God’s heart is for orphans and widows, so I know God is blessing what they’re doing.

I remembered the verse where Jesus said that if we had faith, we could move mountains. Maybe I’m not being exegetically correct or theologically sound, but I wonder if those mountains don’t sometimes get moved one shovel-full at a time, one wheelbarrow-load at a time. Maybe it’s the faith of several people united in purpose and belief that moves mountains and changes the world.