Ragamuffin Gospel

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

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As I type these words, I have a very sleepy geriatric feline nearby helping me to keep it all in perspective. Her little world revolves around eating and napping (and the occasional poop). It’s that simple.

Earlier this evening, I was thinking about all that we tend to stress and worry about. In the grand scheme of things, in view of eternity, 99.9% of these things don’t really matter.

I imagine that two years from now, I won’t even remember what I was so obsessed and stressed over on this June 2, 2017. If it won’t matter two years from now, why should it matter now?

I still say that everyone needs a dog or a cat to remind them of life’s simple pleasures and the ultimate joy of not taking yourself seriously. And sometimes, naps really are the answer to whatever’s ailing you.

The ultimate delusion that keeps most of us up at night is that we’re in complete control and it’s up to us to orchestrate all the events and occurrences in our lives so that our plans work out just right.

Pets are good reminders that we’re not and it’s best not to even try. Just enjoy your life and do what you can and trust God for the rest.

As the old saying goes, don’t sweat the small stuff– and most of it is small.

 

What You’re For

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I’m remembering something Uncle Mike (known to the non-Kairos folks as Dr. Mike Glenn, pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church) said a few years back.

He said that it seems lately that Christians are known for what they are against. You name it, they’re against it. He went on to say that at his old church, they’d get together and celebrate the fact that they hadn’t done anything that week.

It’s good to have convictions and standards. It’s good to speak up for what you believe in. To be silent about the things that matter to you is to give consent.

But I wonder if we haven’t fallen into that old trap again about being known more for what we’re against rather than what we’re for.

Here’s a few suggestions of what we can loudly proclaim that we’re for:

  1. Grace. No one deserves it, but grace is open and available to anyone. Even the Donald Trumps of the world? Yes. Even to the Hillary Clintons? Yes. Jesus died for these and for all.
  2. Life. Not just the unborn and not just Americans. All life matters because all life is sacred and every human being bears the Imago Dei, the image of God, whether Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, Christian or Muslim.
  3. Love. Not just for those who treat you right and who always agree with you. Jesus said to love your enemies, even those on the opposite end of the political spectrum.
  4. God. There is still no one too lost or too far gone or too past hope for God to reach down and redeem and save to the uttermost. Not even you.

As always, speak the truth but speak it in love and never in an insulting or demeaning way. The people who disagree with us are not our enemies– the battle isn’t against flesh and blood but against those spiritual forces that Paul talked about. Abba’s children should never stoop to mocking or belittling others.

“We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love” (1 Corinthians 13:12-13, The Message).

Staying True to the Truth

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“Jesus, the favorite Child of God, is persecuted. He who is poor, gentle, mourning; he who hungers and thirsts for uprightness; is merciful, pure of heart and a peacemaker is not welcome in this world. The Blessed One of God is a threat to the established order and a source of constant irritation to those who consider themselves the rulers of this world. Without his accusing anyone he is considered an accuser, without his condemning anyone he makes people feel guilty and ashamed, without his judging anyone those who see him feel judged. In their eyes, he cannot be tolerated and needs to be destroyed, because letting him be seems like a confession of guilt.

When we want to become like Jesus, we cannot expect always to be liked and admired. We have to be prepared to be rejected” (Henri Nouwen).

That’s it. Jesus said that if they hated Him, they would hate us. He also said woe to those of whom everyone speaks well. That’s not a good sign.

I’ve seen a trend lately where American believers want to fit in and be accepted, even at the expense of compromising away their convictions and doctrines.

What you end up with is a sort of “Be nice to each other” kind of theology that is of no use to anyone. We will have lost the very message that set us apart and got people’s attention.

I still love what Mike Glenn said about the world not hating us because we’re too different but because we’re not different enough. That’s where the Israelites screwed up by being too much like the nations around them and not nearly enough like the set apart people God called them to be.

Above being liked and being relevant, the priority of believers is still to remain faithful to Jesus and His gospel, no matter what.

 

Learning to Breathe

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“Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing—it makes no difference. It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God’s plans may be, we are there and ready” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).

I think we are being programmed to rush and stress and worry. The classic definition of stress is that everything has to happen right now. Nothing can wait or be delayed. It all has to be now.

I get caught up in the frenzy from time to time and let worry get the upper hand. After all, you only slow down when you’re sick, and then not even all that much.

Tonight at Kairos, I was reminded that God has a much bigger and broader time table than me and my own plans. God’s designs and timing for me are not only far better than whatever I could conceive, they’re perfect.

I think my obedience sometimes looks like faithfulness in the small details as much as the grand gestures for God. It’s me e getting up and showing up every day and not giving up but growing up.

Here we are, God, ready and willing for whatever’s next.

 

Thankful on Memorial Day

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I know it’s not national BBQ day. I know this holiday really isn’t about sitting out by the pool or grilling hot dogs. I do know that we have the liberty to do such things because of the bravery and sacrifice of so many– the real reason for Memorial Day.

I never served in the military. I’ve never been in combat. I can’t imagine what they’ve seen or had to do and what the ones who survive deal with on a daily basis.

All I can do is be thankful. I understand that the price for my freedom is never free, and the right to speak my mind as I please was bought and paid for in blood.

Thank you, solders, for your bravery. Thanks especially to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and never got to see again to the land they loved.

I’m thankful that God in Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for me so that I could live. So that I could be forgiven and redeemed.

I hope and pray none of us ever take our freedoms for granted ever. We are truly blessed to have them.

 

 

Grateful for Sore Muscles

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Yes, that title is correct. I’m thankful for sore muscles tonight. I’m generally not a fan of soreness, but tonight I give thanks for several reasons:

The soreness came from washing and waxing my car this afternoon, so I’m thankful for being physically able to do those things, even if it resulted in slight discomfort later on. There are a lot of people, some my age or younger, who could not perform those tasks because of physical limitations.

Being able to wash and wax my car means that I have a car that’s reliable transportation, so for that I’m also grateful. It may be old . . . I mean vintage . . . but it still gets me where I need to go with a little style to boot.

I give thanks that the good weather held out just long enough for me to finish waxing my car before the rain started. I also held out long enough, though I was sweating profusely by the time I was done. My next post will likely be about how I need to workout more.

Eyes to see with, ears that hear, a mind that works. I refuse to take anything for granted anymore, no matter how small or insignificant it seems. I believe gratitude opens up the door of blessing and makes us see more of the blessings we already have.

Usually, I suck at giving thanks. I do my fair share of complaining and grumbling (mostly to myself in my head). Those days when I give thanks, I can tell a tangible difference in the way I see the world and the way the world sees me. It makes a difference.

Oh, I’m also thankful that Advance Auto Parts had the car wax on the shelf for me to buy so that I could wax my car. I almost left that part out.

Jesus in My Own Image

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The end game for Christians is that we end up looking and sounding like Jesus. That’s supposed to be the goal. Yet I find that often we recast Jesus in our own image.

When your Jesus allows you to stay comfortable and unchallenged and never step beyond what’s familiar, it’s safe to say you’ve recast Him in your own image.

When your faith allows you to hate a person or a group of people, to mock and slander these people and wish them harm instead of seeing them as image bearers created and loved by the Creator God, then you’ve recreated Jesus to your image.

When you pick and choose which lives matter, which lives are sacred, whether they be unborn or refugee, then you have made Jesus over into your image.

When Jesus is a means to an end for financial prosperity and power and promoting your own brand, you’ve reimagined Him into your image.

When your Jesus is predictable and safe (unlike the Jesus of the Gospels), then you’re remade Jesus into your image.

When Jesus becomes a Republican or a Democrat and follows either the liberal or conservative agenda to the letter, then you’ve created Him in your own image.

When Jesus becomes a means to exclude people and ostracize those who are less hip than you rather than intentionally seeking out the least of these, then you’ve reimagined Jesus into your likeness.

When Jesus becomes another option or one of many roads instead of the way, the truth, and the life (as He Himself said), then you’ve reinvented Jesus in your image.

Jesus comforted the disturbed and disturbed the comfortable (as the saying goes). He didn’t mince words with those who trusted in their own religion and righteousness. He called young and old, rich and poor, to repent for the Kingdom of God was near. He drove people away with some of the hard truths He spoke and even His own disciples often misunderstood Him.

When your Jesus is anything other than the Jesus who told us to go into all the world and make disciples, not as a nice alternative or a suggestion but as a binding command, then your Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible.

My prayer for you and me both is that we stop trying to recreated Jesus to think and act and be like us and start being transformed by the renewing of our minds into His image until we can truly be His visible presence here and now.

 

 

 

Just This

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I went to Goodwill today and came away with a few treasures. I even found a CD of Rachmaninoff concertos played by Mr. Rachmaninoff himself.

I’m sometimes amazed at what people decide to give away. I suppose that it’s true that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

You might feel like that some days. You feel like something in a thrift store– overlooked, unwanted, and worthless. But God sees you.

You might feel like a total screw up some days. You might feel like you’re close to 100%– for messing up everything you touch. But God knows you.

Today, in the middle of another long week, God both sees and knows about you. He is actively moving on your behalf.

I’ve discovered that there are also people who see and know you. They will be the ones God uses to remind you that you are not alone. They will be the ones to speak life and healing and hope into you when you need it most.

You generally don’t find these people by looking for them. They tend to show up when you least expect it. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t hold on to them once you find them. Treasure these people for as long as God puts them in your path.

Remember, friends. You are seen. You are known. You are loved. You are treasured.

Nothing Shall Be Impossible

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I can hardly believe it. The Nashville Predators are headed to the Stanley Cup Finals.

This is like a movie script for one of those inspirational films like Rudy or Remember the Titans. I don’t think you could make up something as unlikely and improbable as this.

I confess. Halfway through the NHL regular season, I had given up on these Preds. I wasn’t sure they’d make the playoffs, much less do anything when they got there.

When I found out their first round opponent was the Chicago Blackhawks, I said we’d be lucky to win one game at the most.

Never have I been happier in all my life to eat my own words. I’m thrilled that I was not only wrong, but way off.

I’m still dreaming of the Press bringing the Stanley Cup back to Music City. That would be awesome for the city of Nashville as well as for professional hockey and the NHL. It might not be realistic, but then again, them being in the finals wasn’t either.

Maybe this is a God-wink for some of you to never stop believing in the impossible. Truly with God all things are possible. Or, like one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite pastors, with God, what seems impossible to us is not even remotely difficult for Him. Not even close.

Keep believing. Keep pursuing that dream. Keep praying for that loved one. Keep pulling yourself up out of bed every morning and making each day a new start.

Above all, keep trusting that God’s promises are truer than your circumstances or your feelings or your gut instinct or anything else or anyone else who tells you differently.

The old saying goes something like this: if it is to be, it is up to me.

I like this version a lot better: if it is to be, He is up to it!

 

 

Living Letters

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“Does it sound like we’re patting ourselves on the back, insisting on our credentials, asserting our authority? Well, we’re not. Neither do we need letters of endorsement, either to you or from you. You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it.

We couldn’t be more sure of ourselves in this—that you, written by Christ himself for God, are our letter of recommendation. We wouldn’t think of writing this kind of letter about ourselves. Only God can write such a letter. His letter authorizes us to help carry out this new plan of action. The plan wasn’t written out with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal footnotes, killing your spirit. It’s written with Spirit on spirit, his life on our lives!” (2 Corinthians 3:1-6, The Message).

Two questions continue to haunt me from this morning’s sermon by Sean MacNally at The Church at Avenue South: 1) What kind of letter are you? 2) Who is reading you?

I can only hope that my letter is a letter full of both grace and truth. I hope that people who read my life will know that their stories don’t have to end with ashes and tears but that there is hope for a new start and a better ending.

As for the second question, I believe that there’s always someone watching you. Someone out there hears you say that you’re a Christian and pays attention to see if your lifestyle matches your testimony. What are they seeing?

I still love what Dwight Moody said. For every one person who picks up and reads a Bible, there will be ten who will read the Christian. What kind of gospel will they find? What will they learn about the Jesus– not the Jesus you talk about but the Jesus you emulate by your daily words and actions?

These are questions that I hope linger in my mind for a while. May they be more than nice sentiments but the keys to real and lasting transformation.