PRAY NAKED!

Can we just be real?

2011-12-28T15:47:00.004-06:00

By Tim A. Michael

I’m an advocate for the authentic. I hate plastic or polyester. Give me substance over symbolism every stinkin time. I hate “artificial sweeteners.” I once picked the wrong pie slice at Luby’s and literally thought I was going to cry. Synthetics suck – period. Even the best plastic surgeon on the planet is going to have a hard time convincing me those silicone augmented appendages (aka chin-rests) are attractive. I prefer boobs that have a little “bounce” to ‘em.

I’m pretty sure I’m on solid ground here from a spiritual sense. Matthew 6 is littered with censures against insincerity. Spiritual puffiness is simply hot air. I mean really – who disfigures themselves to bring attention to their “good deed” of sacrifice?

“Oh man – you look terrible!”

“I know. I’m suffering for the poor today – I’m fasting and praying.”

“Is that mascara you’re wearing under your eyes?”

“Uh…no. Dark circles. I’ve been up all night in prayer beseeching God for the poor.”

“You’re rich. Why don’t you just give them some money?”

“You know what they say about giving a man a fish versus teaching him to fish.”

“You have the biggest fishing business in all of Israel, give them a job.”

“Then they wouldn’t appreciate my prayers and righteousness, or God’s goodness.”

If there is one thing the church STILL struggles with, it’s self-righteousness. Just about any street preacher will tell you you’re going to hell without even knowing you. All the while screaming their judgment of the world, they fail to see their own sin of pride – you know – the one that got Lucifer thrown out of heaven.

Today’s spiritual climate requires the wisdom that can only come from the Holy Spirit Himself. Too many people are leaving the church because of the perception of hypocrisy and self-righteousness. Frustration abounds.

I love the 8^th Chapter of Romans, but especially this part:

V. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God

V 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed..

There is this unspoken tension in the world but we just can't seem to put our finger on it; it’s like a haze or morning fog; you can see it from a distance, but when you're in the middle of it, it just clouds your vision. It’s frustrating because you want the path clear and the journey without obstacles, yet we find our own earthen vessels to be our greatest obstacle of all.

V 20-21 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

Planet earth wants to be liberated from planet “me” and planet “you.” It desires planet “us” where we all matter. There is not one single individual from the Adamic race that doesn’t know and fight rejection on a daily basis. Every – last – one – of – us. It is why infidelity is rampant, abuse in abundant supply, and the performance mentality so prevalent in the workplace and unfortunately in the church.

The antidote is authenticity. Just be real people. Be real about who you are, what makes you tick, and what you want in life. If you screw up – own it. In fact – advertise it sometimes. It can be a healthy thing to laugh at yourself and your humanity. People are more likely to engage with you about their own struggles when you do. THAT is ministry. THAT is LIFE. THAT is what the church is called to do – engage.

V 22 – 25 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Sons and daughters – Daddy wants us to get it right by being real, but we can’t be real with others if we can’t be real with ourselves. We must look in the mirror and surrender what we see there. I can assure you so much more freedom is found in carrying a cross than the burdens of your wounds. Some of these are self-inflicted – repeat offenders we are. Woof! "Oh – there’s a puddle of vomit that I can lap up, I believe I’ll have that for dinner in lieu of a feast with the King!" Why does that make sense to us? Crazy clay pots.

I have some wonderful friends from churches past and present, and that incredible social medium known as Facebook. I see petty arguments there and inspirational stories of life and love. The common thread of the Church of Facebook is that crying out of creation. We want acceptance not rejection. I’ve seen people “throw down” just to see if others will accept or reject them. I’ve seen still others wear their feelings on their sleeves and post some of the most personal things of which we all screamed in unison “TMI!” I’m conflicted at the cries for attention and yet I want to encourage authenticity.

I guess my encouragement to you all is this: Pray naked. (Do this in your prayer closet please!)

Strip away the pretense of the public façade and “be who you be.” God has gifted each and every one of you with talents, words of encouragement, wit, or even the quality of just being real. The people we often refer to as “salt of the earth” typically don’t care what others think about them (or their lifestyles) but they balance that with a genuine love for their fellowman. Ah – the cry from the Father’s heart – “My children – love each other.”

Functional families do this unconditionally. We don’t necessarily “accept” bad behavior, but we don’t reject the person displaying it. My friend Barry Garrett has a quote on his facebook page that says “God doesn’t define people by their worst moments…neither will I.” THAT, my friends, is the heart of the father and should be the pulse of the church. Thank God for His grace. I’m sure Barry has employed this principle toward me over the years, and no doubt some of you have as well, so thanks.

I trust that as you all look to 2012, God will challenge you too to be “real.”

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me.” He defined Himself as TRUTH. Authentic. REAL. The antonym of synthetic. The next time you crawl into bed and enjoy “the touch, the feel of cotton” sheets be inspired to touch another life with the organic substantive love of Christ without expectation that muddies water. Give them a drink of fresh water and breathe into them a breath of fresh air – we all need both to live.

Heavy Lifting

2011-01-02T22:18:00.006-06:00

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Some Lyrics from Hillsong's "Savior King"

"We love you Lord, we worship you; You are our God, you alone are good. You asked your Son to carry this; The heavy cross our weight of sin. I love you Lord, I worship you; Hope which was lost, now stands renewed. I give my life to honor this,The love of Christ, the savior king"

I often struggle with the word “why?” when it comes to my journey or even the journey of others. I’m in the process of trying to revise my thinking and change the word from “journey” to “adventure.” I was watching a comic recently tell the crowd that he makes decisions now based on one simple criterion: What makes the best “story”? That cracked me up. It also challenged me.

Why shouldn’t our journey be more like an adventure? Why shouldn’t our walk be something special? I think it should. Unfortunately, “adventure” and “special” don’t always have a positive connotation. Also, our journey is not always determined by us. Sometimes it is touched by others, sometimes happenstance gets in the way, and then sometimes God the Father just has other plans that don’t match our own. I know this can be an unpopular view, but often true nonetheless: He even allows hardships our way. See “Resistance Training.”

Often our walk is just a grind; simply mundane. Sometimes it is just painful. I have a friend whom I write of often here – Fredy. He is my brother, my sounding board, and a great barometer of what grace under fire looks like. Without going into a lot of detail, Fredy’s journey of late has been painful and the load he currently carries is heavy.

Fredy lost his mom back in August, and his dad took it really hard. Also, his sister who had beaten breast cancer recently, was just diagnosed in December with Leukemia. Merry Freakin Christmas! So, Fredy has had many travels back and forth to Switzerland which is where he’s from, and where his Dad and sister still live. The travels alone are enough to wear most of us down. He’s there now helping his dad and sister deal with this latest fight. They are no doubt discouraged and battle weary.

Galatians 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

So as I was praying about Fredy's load and my frustration, the Lord dropped two words in my spirit – “heavy lifting.” The week before Christmas, I shared this at Railhead Church with the guys as we sipped frosty schooners and ate ribs, but I was still working it all out in my head even with Fredy sitting right there. It’s frustrating to see the ones we love go through a series of trials and painful events.

In the following days I feel like the Lord continued to shed light on the terms “heavy lifting.” I know there are seasons of struggle. There are times when people carry more than others. To whom much is given much is required right?

Take my job for example. I was chosen to be a “point man” on a project that lasted from August until the end of the year. It was hard. It was frustrating. It made demands and took a toll on every part of me. It was a season of me carrying a load that wasn’t required of others. It was “heavy lifting.”

In the middle of one of those really $h!++y days, one of my brothers in Christ at work sent an email to me. The subject line was CIAJ. That's it CIAJ. When I opened the email it simply had one line: "Consider it all joy." He had no idea what I had been going through as we hadn't talked with each other for about 3 weeks, but there it was in all of it's glory - "consider it all joy." I didn't know whether to laugh or cry or let expetives fly, but I knew it was truth. I replied with a hearty thank you.

There are people that are asked by the Father to endure things that others just are not. For some it is a season, but for some it is a life-long cross to bear. I know some who have affliction. I know some who have children with special-needs, or aging parents for whom they must care. I know some who have lost loved ones to sickness or tragedy and yet they journey on in faithful service to the One and Only. Yet some are still looking for that relief from the beat-down or for some glimmer of hope.

There is hope. There is a Day coming. There is portion. The Deliverer is coming – He is Faithful and True. The season of struggle, of “heavy lifting” is indeed a season even if it is life-long for this life is but a vapor. And there is this promise:

Romans 8:28-39 NIV
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
36 As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So when don’t be discouraged when the cross seems a little extra heavy, His grace is sufficient for you. I used to hate that passage until Father God revealed it’s unique and personal application to me. Maybe next blog I’ll share about my thorn(s) of frustration and how God is untangling the knots. For now if you see someone who is doing some heavy lifting on their own, give ‘em a hand and remember – He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.

Christmas - A Time of Remembrance or a Festival of Fools

2010-12-24T06:49:00.002-06:00

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:22,23

What are we doing people? I mean really, can’t we all just take a deep breath and stop. Stop with the over-the-top craziness that has turned this Holy Day into nothing short of a Festival of Fools? Gifts, wish lists, debt, doing, going, seeing, but where is the being? What happened to “Love thy neighbor” in what is supposed to be “the most wonderful time of the year”?

I know many of you are gracious in your giving to the needy, helping out at food shelters, partaking in toy drives, etc, etc, and thank you for your service to your community. For many of us though, that can be an after-thought to checking off the list and checking it twice - forget about if we’re being naughty or nice. Which reminds me, my great nephew Davis (one of the cutest and possibly smartest 3 year olds on the planet) proudly addressed Santa at a Christmas party the other day, “Thank you! I’m no longer on the naughty list!” I can’t imagine this precious boy being anything but innocent.

So for the most part, the Holy Day has turned into anything but sacred. I was watching the news on Wednesday morning as I was getting ready for my last day of work for the year, and they were doing a story on people waiting for hours for the NEW Air-Jordan sneakers that apparently had a limited supply released to the public. There was pushing and shoving and trampling of people all for a stupid pair of sneakers. Really people? Are you kidding me? They will be restocked and half-the-price in 2 weeks.

So here I sit Christmas Eve morning with yet MORE shopping left to do. My work schedule provides precious little time to think about gifts much-less go buy them. A lot of this falls to my lovely wife who is a black-belt in the sport anyway. Thank God she is so good at it because I need all the help I can get. She schooled me in it “the way of the hunter/gatherer” yesterday. I actually thought she was going to, as Caleb would say, “Spartan-kick” a man in one of those store-provided scooters-for-the-infirm at Target last night.

Here’s how that went down:

Ally was looking for a certain DVD to replace an old VHS model we had thrown out. The store clerk had a pile of people at his register and said he would get it from the storage room in a few minutes. So we shopped for other DVDs while we waited. Caleb and I wandered off so we were unaware of the storm cloud that was brewing. Ally was waiting patiently by the door to the stockroom when the clerk finally walked over and started to unlock the door. Out of nowhere a giant “ME-monster” rolled up on his 3 wheeled basket-scooter. It seems he was in desperate need of a DVD of the Gene Simmons (from KISS) MTV series Family Jewels.

The clerk told him that he would help him as soon as he was finished with Ally because “she has been waiting patiently for a really longtime. I just need to step in here and get hers off the shelf.” Unknown to the rest, this man was more important than all who were present. He proclaimed loudly and emphatically, “No! You will help me NOW!” and then proceeded to ram the clerk with his scooter pinning him with his back against the door. Apparently this man was unaware of the dangerous trek upon which he had just embarked because my wife also has a third-degree black-belt in the sport of removing the heads of bullies. It’s a specific martial art known only to certain sects in Motherdome.

Ally somehow garrisoned enough Christmas spirit to keep from killing this man on the spot. Instead she informed him, “No sir – you will wait your turn. As he said, I’ve been waiting for a long time, so back up the scooter and wait your turn!” The 3-wheeled bully was not immediately deterred. He ran right out onto the thin-ice and spoke directly to my wife. This confirmed to us his mental state had him about 12 cards shy of a full-deck.

As he backed up and re-rammed the clerk again(who was desperately trying to unlock the door and simultaneously search his hand-held device for the Gene Simmons DVD), the over-sized ninny-muggin told my wife to (and I quote) “Shut up and mind your own business – he’s going to help me first. You can wait!” All who were present truly witnessed a Christmas miracle right here. She responded calmly with “No. Back up your scooter and wait your turn.” However, sensing a YouTube moment was about to occur, other customers began to congregate to watch the drama unfold.

(Ally) “Tim! Tim!”

(Tim) “What?”

“Get a police officer – NOW!”

(Spectator) “Good for you! You’re being a lot more patient than I would be,” as if she was no stakeholder in the events.

Sidebar: The crime could literally be describe in a court-of-law as aggravated assault (assault with a weapon – the weapon being the scooter).

I looked over at Ally to see a crowd of people standing around a guy on a scooter. Thinking he was having some sort of medical issue, I ran to find anyone with a badge or walkie-talkie. I see Barney guarding the entrance. Really? Shouldn’t you have the EXIT covered? I informed him we had a “situation” and we needed his help.

He came over and took a couple of statements, then called for the manager who arrived in very short order. She sort of reminded me of Oprah between diets in looks and interviewing skills. She quickly assessed the situation and sent the man on his way even after we, a bystander, and a clerk corroborated what happened. Another clerk walked up and said, “We have trouble with him all the time. He’s always aggressive to customers and clerks alike.”

Einstein suddenly reappears on his scooter trying to ensure he gets his side of the story straight and on the record. Unfortunately for him, they were going to review the security tape. We left our contact information and went on our way. I have little doubt there will be absolutely NO consequences for his actions which is exactly why he continues this behavior. Next time we will certainly reconsider the “Spartan-kick” option (in Jesus name).

Back to the Holy Day

So what is the point of all the peripheral stuff that we call “celebration”? Have you considered the true Gift of God this Christmas? Have you considered the wonderful reality of the manger that led to the cross? Have you stopped to consider the absolute treacherous and difficult journey that were the lives of Joseph and Mary that were truly conduits for our salvation? What about Father God? Have you considered what He gave? When I think of my son Caleb I can’t help but be pierced to the core to think of “His only begotten Son.”

Have you considered Emmanuel – God with us. What a privilege. What an honor. What love. What a gift! God with us. Allow that to soak deep into your spirit and dwell there throughout the rest of this Holy Day season. Allow it to challenge your New Year resolution. Allow it to be a substantive force in your giving and receiving. Receive ye the Holy Spirit. Let those words impact your living and doing and being.

Remember the gift of eternal life and forget about the trouble and turmoil of a world warring against its sensibilities. Give them the gift of grace and let your light so shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven. I say let’s challenge everyone we know to make Christmas about Him again. Love to you all. Merry Christmas.

Disingenuous Authenticity

2010-11-28T18:31:00.008-06:00

Thanksgiving 2010
Tim A. Michael

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son." Hebrews 12: 5,6

Thursday morning (Thanksgiving) I went out early to a crisp cold backyard to have some time alone in prayer and “thanksgiving” to God. I acknowledged to Him that I was indeed thankful for all the things I had – my job, my home, provision, etc. and I acknowledge that He alone is my Source and Savior and Sustenance. However, I have been emotionally drained and battle- weary with little left in the tank to overflow into praise. Just being real here.

For those of you who know me, and know me well, you know I always make it a point to challenge people to “just be real.” Nothing on the planet, yea verily nothing in all creation, makes me more steamed than someone’s hypocrisy – except for maybe my own. I can deal with that in a very lawyerly way and soothe the conscience. Trouble is enough soothing turns it into a seared conscience - crusty, deep-fried and lifeless. That’s a scary place to be.

Holy Spirit come.

I used to bristle at the notion that I had any sort of hypocritical tendencies. It’s definitely not in my redeemed nature to allow it, but I find my flesh stepping up to ensure there is a place for the periodical prodigal presence. Something about a dog returning to its vomit comes to mind.

So what shall I do to be saved?

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman Church (This is Paul being real and authentic about his flesh.)

Chapter 7

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What the???!!!! Can anyone relate? I do that which I hate, and don’t do that which I know I should. I pretty much suck as a person. This is Tim being real and authentic about his flesh. My frustration is still seeking emancipation.

160/120 BP was a recent price of said frustration. I’m frustrated with being ill-equipped to do that which I know needs to be done yet I just can’t seem to get from here to there. I’m frustrated with the same old sins of selfishness and flesh. Blah! Why can’t I just get my crap together?

The Father revealed something to me on the road home from church the other day. People all around me and I am oblivious to them. I don’t love them. I don’t care about them. They’re simply strangers in other cars competing for the same space on the freeway – agents of inconvenience. How can I love and care about those with whom I am competing? Oh wretched man that I am! I just want them out of my way. At least THEN I will have a clear path to the throne of grace I so desperately need.

Again – can anyone relate? Am I the only self-centered ass in the church? It is the love of the Father that disciplines His son. I know that I know that I know that I am His son because of His rebuke and discipline. That makes me an heir. Thank you Jesus. Deliver me from myself.

So going forward I seek to love as He loves. I need the deep breath of redemption so I can exhale a big dose of the Spirit. Jesus loves each and every one of them such that he carried their cross and their sin. I needed that reminder. I need to extend more deference to aid in their deliverance. I need to love them all the way to Him. I need to extend the grace to them I have so generously received.

In Christ, the foundation of the gospel is to “love God and love others.” The first one I can do okay sometimes. The second part is still a challenge. Anything short of that though is still hypocritical and disingenuous, because to love Him is to love them the way He desires. And to love them is to love Him in the way He desires. I think that’s what "being REAL" in Him looks like.

Feast on a Fall Cleaning

2010-09-06T09:47:00.007-05:00

"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." Mark 2:27, 28

I haven’t been blogging for a while – mainly because I’ve just been too busy. I have more on my plate than an uncle at a potluck family reunion. You know the one – he heads up the (adult) line and has this unwritten competition (of which no one else is aware) to see how much food he can stack on his styrofoam tray, and then glows in the jabs he gets from the by-standers as he parades by headed to his own personal feast-dome. Well, I’m not THAT proud of my plate, or all that is piled thereon, but like Uncle Feasty I’ve got to eat it a bite at a time.

You might say I’ve been enjoying a bit of a Sabbath from the writing. In this blog, I have always tried to be real and naked (see honest and transparent) about my own shortcomings and sins so that the reader might relate and appropriate. I scribble thoughts in search of a nugget that might heal. I try to do so in a way that is non-judgmental yet challenging.

16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:16,17

I love eating and drinking with sinners – the broken, the rejected, the hurting, and the frustrated. I do because I am honestly one of them. I still have much in me that needs to be fixed. It’s a journey that sometimes seems futile and frustrating. Yet will I praise Him. I was created for that. So were you. Keep walking. Keep the faith. Surrender.

So I write again after a lengthy hiatus. It is interesting that I am doing so again on “Labor Day” – you know – the day we celebrate “Labor” by not working. Oh how I could wax eloquent on that subject for a while, but I’m giving that a rest today too.

I was sitting on my back porch haven this morning, enjoying the cool breeze, and I began to read and pray. I felt impressed to read the gospel of Mark again. I love Mark because he gets right to business – no long narratives about lineage, or begets, or angelic hosts, but he gets right to it.

(Paraphrasing) “Isaiah said it. John did it. People responded. Jesus completed it. Jesus went to the desert. The devil was there. Jesus was tempted. Wild animals and Angels were also there. John went to prison. Jesus returned. Jesus preached. Jesus was willing. People were healed.

I know that is an over simplification of chapter 1, but I think some simplicity is what is needed in me right now – pare back the minutia for a while. Stop picking the weeds, but fertilize the grass. As your soil gets healthy, your soul will too. It’s pretty fundamental stuff. Read and pray. Read and pray. Read and pray.

My wife Alicesun – the nutritionist – keeps reminding me that good stuff going in produces good results. I need more of Him in me to manage my affairs, order my life, and reignite the hope that lies within us who are the Redeemed. Oh yes – Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so. It is so! It is well – even when it’s not.

We’ve sort of had the Autumn version of “spring cleaning” around our house this weekend. Stuff everywhere, out-of-place, staged to store or remove, and it all was set into motion in the middle of the night Friday night with a sick dog. Negotiating poop is not fun; it does not allow for inaction. It became the catalyst for a deep cleanse.

Now - about the sick, the sinners, the broken. As I was reading in chapter 1, verse 41 jumped out at me – again. 41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!"

I truly believe this is the most difficult revelation for humanity to grasp. Whatever your need, whatever your righteous desire, He is willing to provide. Our problem is that the receiver has so much static, so much interference, so much noise, that we can’t hear the answer – I am willing. The Great I Am is able and willing. Grasp that nugget of truth right there and let it take root. Be cleansed. Be well. Be whole.

Your Father sends his love.

Holy Smoke! The Upside to the Downside

2010-05-11T20:27:00.009-05:00

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. Romans 8:18-21

I’ve not been in a good place for a few months now. Stressed at work and frustrated on many levels. That frustration has produced a character that resembles Jack Torrance at times. You remember Jack right? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I have certainly had my share of “Shining” moments of late. A couple of weeks back it sort of all came to a head and I had myself a good old fashioned blubber-fest with my wife and Heavenly Father.

I’ve been in dire need of some R&R - Righteous Rehabilitation - a close encounter of the Godly kind. I have come to embrace the reality that sometimes an encounter with God doesn’t look exactly like what we might think. Sometimes He is found in the gentle conversation between friends over a glass of Portuguese White wine (Famega) and a slow burning Churchill cigar. I know – call me crazy, but it was indeed a holy smoke. (For the record, I might I smoke a cigar once or twice a year)

We recently had a house full of family and friends just hanging out collaborating on songs and journeys and food consumption. The food was outstanding. There were 3 cheeses to sample, some olives, and a North Coast California Pinot Noir too. Dinner consisted of orange-glazed salmon, saffron rice, and roasted asparagus. Dessert? Strawberry cheesecake of course.

The fellowship was even better. Besides having my wife Ally and all 3 of our kids at home together, we had Harrison (Whitney’s boyfriend) home from Iraq (for good), Bryan (Katie’s boyfriend) playing his guitar and singing with Fredy and me. My friend and confidant Fredy is a great man of God who patiently works with my lyrics to transform them into songs, though he's as much pastor and teacher as he is friend and musician.

Earlier in the week, Fredy had reached out with some encouragement for me on Facebook citing Psalms 91: 14-16. In fact, after my heart's cry on that Sunday, the Father blessed me with a week full of friends checking in on me: John, Clark, Christie, Pastor Ty, and Fredy, each with a tidbit of hope and joy and prayer. Interestingly, Christie’s post has proven quite prophetic as she cited the very verses I’ve used as the "scripture text" of this post. Brother Ty hooked up on the phone with me and spoke wonderful encouragement into my life as well.

Then there was Angel - a real angel with whom I work. Angel is one of those men that has the coolest Latino accent - kind of like the Dos Equis guy (the most interesting man in the world), but Angel shaves. When he speaks he penetrates your soul as he looks you in the eye and levies truth. It's like the Holy Spirit is whispering each word into his ear as he's speaking. All the while Angel is grinning, smiling, almost laughing as if he knows something you don't.

On this particular day, Angel had just "dropped in to say "hi" and then started reading my spiritual mail to me. He reminded me of God’s goodness and grace. He spoke of great things over me and renewed my hope even more. God again heard and answered my prayer. It seemed like the Father was telling his son “look dude – it’s okay I’ve got your back.” My boss likes to use the term “I’ve got this!” or “I’m on it” when trying to reassure someone that he’s taking care of an issue. I just feel God saying “I’m on it.”

So – back to my holy smoke. Fredy and I and, later on, Bryan sat on my back porch smoking stogies. Mine was a nice thick aromatic “Churchill.” Fredy had a Brazilian, and I’m not sure what Bryan was smoking. Ha! So we sipped old wine and new. We talked about our journeys, our frustrations, and the promise. [Insert giant slow inhale here.] Oh the promise. The promise is redemption. The promise is a kingdom that will one day come to earth and reign as it is in heaven.

Fredy also reminded me of Asaph and Psalms 73. Reading there we find that Asaph almost lost his footing. He envied the arrogant and rich. He longed to be free of the burdens common to man. Sound familiar? It seemed he couldn’t understand at first how their fortunes could last unjustly. His heart was grieved and embittered.
Then as if revelation dawns he begins to enumerate their sin and prophesy their end. He began to repent of his own and entered the sanctuary of God. He confessed he was senseless and ignorant and a brute beast in the presence of God, yet he understood God was still holding his hand. Abba-Father Daddy-Redeemer. God is always present – always - even in our sin and pain...loving us.

I needed to hear that. I’ve been a brute beast in His presence. I’ve not reflected His glory but deflected His story. I’ve listened to crap and spewed a bunch of it out. Thanks be to God I am disciplined. Fredy reminded me that it makes me a legitimate son.

The Father is still a stakeholder in our journey. His glory will be revealed in us – his sons (and daughters). We groan as if giving birth to it because it is implanted in us yet struggles to come forth. It seeks to fight past our frustration and earthen limitations. Yet He tailors those struggles and pains together and turns them to our benefit. Fredy says, “that’s the upside to the downside.” He fashions those scars into garments of praise. That fragile earthen vessel carries the deposit of the Divine.

We should share it freely with all. It’s what we’re meant to do as fellow sojourners. Reach out and touch someone with hope. It will change you. It will bless them. I’m thankful for friends like Fredy and John and Clark and Christie and Ty and Angel, who listen for the voice of the Spirit and don’t hesitate to share it with others. I hear the Father saying, “y’all share. I'll be there.”

The Stain of Pain Stays Mainly in the Gain.

2010-02-14T19:22:00.003-06:00

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

As I sit here in my recliner next to a flickering gas log fireplace, I look out and see the receding line of snow as it melts into a fond North Texas memory. 12 inches we received in two days. The beauty of a snow covered landscape is something that awes me every time I see it in person – especially in these parts because of its infrequency. Something so beautiful that only happens in winter’s dead-zone. For me it serves as a reminder that even in the harshest of circumstances beauty emerges.

None of us are immune to the pain of loss or rejection. In fact, our spiritual adversary would have us all believe that none of us are worthy of love or blessing and that any misfortune or malfunction in our life is simply a well-deserved well-timed display of justice. Our misstep, our stumble, our weakness, our endless supply of our sin sowing comes crashing down as we now reap our harvest of a renegade’s reward. Just desserts.

Ever feel like that? I found myself jokingly saying “of course!” when encountering these sort of circumstances . The Holy Spirit corrected me the other day. I love course corrections, I need them like a vitamin that builds my soul.

My boss likes to use the phrase, “I don’t care so much how we got here as to what we are going to do now to fix it.” Part of me hates that because I want to learn/teach the lesson, but part of me also sees the tremendous value of grace that allows room for our humanity and provides an opportunity for redemption. Redemption – now that’s a concept I can embrace fully.

So back to our pain that stains. Too often we lose in the loss. We lose a job or a loved one or a friend, or just something we value and we get bitter. We turn our loss into something like it's a personal affront from God. We blame Him since, after all, the great micromanager could have stopped it, and we know through law that anyone that could have stopped a crime yet doesn’t it guilty of being an accomplice to said offense. Even our self-inflicted wounds are somehow His fault.

We do this at our own peril. We have much to gain from examining ourselves in our storms. Like the disciples in the boat during the squall we start with the accusations, “Doesn’t He care that we perish?” Dude! Wake up! We’re about to drown! We intuitively run to Him then stand amazed and awed when He stills the storm. What is even more amazing is that we believe he can still the tempest outside but not the one in us. We waste our pain.

Ally and I have been working out religiously for about 4 months now. There have been a couple of weeks where we were unable to get to the gym but maybe once or twice. Hitting that treadmill or those weights after a long layoff was painful. What was more painful was the notion that we were having to regain ground we had already paid to gain. Ground gained must be maintained. We had wasted some of our pain.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m reading Max Lucado’s Fearless and he touches on some of this. Referring to the martyrs in Hebrews 11:35-37 he writes,

” …contrary to what we’d hope, good people aren’t exempt from violence. Murderers don’t give the godly a pass. Rapists don’t vet victims according to spiritual resumes. The bloodthirsty and wicked don’t skip over the heavenbound. We aren’t insulated. But neither are we intimidated. Jesus has a word or two about this brutal world: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. (Matt 10:28) …Evil doers have less of a chance hurting you if you aren’t already a victim”.

This is a principle that we’ve tried to instill in our kids. “You are not a victim.” “Don’t get bitter – get better.” “Over-comers can’t be over-comers unless they’ve over-come something.” See we are all fans of victory, it’s the battles we hate. We embrace the finish line but don’t embrace the race. We love the destination, but hate the journey. We love the new clothes and compliments, but we hate the treadmill.

Lucado goes on to discuss the brutality of Jesus’ death and the pain and suffering that He endured and why.

“Then what are we to make of the occasions Satan does reach us? How are we supposed to understand the violence listed in Hebrews 11…? Or most supremely, how are we to understand the suffering of Jesus? Ropes. Whips. Thorns. Nails. These trademarked His final moments. Do you hear the whip slapping against his back, ripping sinew from bone?

Thirty-nine times the leather slices, first the air, then the skin. Jesus clutches the post and groans, battered by wave after of wave of violence. Soldiers force a thorny wreath over his brow, sting his face with slaps, coat it with saliva. They load a beam on his shoulders and force him to march up a hill. This is the condemned sharpening his own guillotine, tying his own noose, wiring his own electric chair. Jesus shouldered his own tool of execution. The cross.

Cicero referred to the crucifixion as “a most cruel and disgusting punishment.” In polite Roman society the word “cross” was an obscenity, not to be uttered in conversation. Roman soldiers were exempt from crucifixion except in matters of treason. It was ugly and vile, harsh and degrading. And it was the manner by which Jesus chose to die. …Did atonement for sin demand six hours of violence? No, but his triumph over sadism did. Jesus once and for all displayed his authority over savagery.

Evil may have her moments, but they will be brief. Satan unleashed his meanest demons on God’s Son. He tortured every nerve ending and inflicted every misery. Yet the master of death could not destroy the Lord of Life. Heavens best took hell’s worst and turned it into hope. You “have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for Him, (Phil. 1:29 NLT), remember God wastes no pain.”

I lost a father I never knew. I’m not sure which is worse – losing one that was close, and never knowing the man that rejected his family. I lost a cousin that was closer than a brother. I lost a friend who was also as close as any brother could have been. I’ve been in love and rejected. I’ve sought the approval and affirmation of others only to be ignored. I’ve inflicted pain as well. But God wastes no pain. He turns it for our good.

He teaches us to love others and reach out those who are experiencing the pain we once knew. His pain and ours is gain. Don’t allow yours to be wasted. Submit it to Him for his retooling and restoration. Let Him redeem your tears and scars. On this Valentine’s Day remember this - His love never fails.

Faith with Feathers and Fear Less

2010-01-01T09:55:00.004-06:00

Psalms 107:13-16 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.

In bed at 3 am this morning and up at 7. It seems this holiday season has had many a short night. Levi had been out once but was whining as if he needed another pee break, so puppies rule the morning when being house-broke. I stepped outside in my house shoes and flannel robe to a crisp beautiful morning. As the frost glistened in the sun, which was just now peeking over the horizon, I was hit anew with the promise - His mercies are new each morning.

Birds were singing in the neighborhood as if spring had arrived, and I chuckled as I saw my breath leave my chin. Do they realize how cold it is? I breathed in deeply through my nose and I was reminded of my wonderful new ability to draw in a full breath through nostrils separated by a now-straight-septum. Thank you Jesus. Exhaling I was aware of His presence in the moment. I love these little encounters with Him. Thank you.

Two very simple words that mean so much. I've said them a lot lately. Thankful for many wonderful gifts at Christmas, not least of which was the affirmative answer to a (roughly) 40-year-old prayer - a White Christmas. I was as giddy as a young boy who received a bike on Christmas morning. In Texas it is truly is a Christmas miracle - proven by the fact that it was the first one on record in 83 years.

I actually opened all the blinds on our first floor so that as I traveled room-to-room I could see the falling snow and blanket of love. I prayed for people's safety as I knew many would be making their way to family gatherings - including my daughter Whitney who worked well into the evening. With each flake and each inch I felt the Father's love for a little 49 year old boy who might as well had seen Santa and his sleigh touch-down on his roof. For some this may seem silly - for me it was a dream-come-true. But it may not have been the best gift I received...

This year I topped my Christmas List with a request for a book which has also become a "New Years Resolution," and maybe even a declaration of freedom. I asked for Max Lucado's newest publication Fearless. I've completed chapter 3 and it is already proving to be everything I'd hoped and then some. I'll share more on my "deliverance" in upcoming posts as more light is shed on the disfunctionality of my soul, and the steps to strengthen feeble knees.

It has been several months since I've entered anything on my blog. In fact, 2009 was a year of very few posts; it was indeed a year of change (as one politcal mantra goes). For those of you rolling your eyes - fear not - I'm not going there today. What I want to do is offer a window into some of the changes I've been going through, even now, and what I feel like the Holy Spirit is doing in me, and maybe even a small challenge to all to be HAPPY.

I am convinced that the biggest obstacle in all of our lives is FEAR. It stands as an impenetrable wall for many. Max refers to it as a prison in his book. For me, I come by it honestly, my mom is the original "worry-wart." I gave her this book too for Christmas. :) The thing that pains me the most about mom is her fears. She also comes by it honestly. Born 19 days before the stock market crashed in October 1929, her entire childhood was engulfed in the darkness of insecurity known as "The Great Depression."

At one point they were homeless seeking shelter in an abandoned broom factory, sharing it with some cows. Mom, the second-youngest of 9 children, would walk with my Aunt Martha several blocks out of the way from school so the kids wouldn't know where they actually lived. My mind can hardly wrap itself around that scene. Add to this the insecurity of two world wars and one can only imagine the fear that took root in a young lady's heart.

My worries? Some are legitimate, some not-so-much. I was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure. It seems to be situational. Long hours at work, mandatory overtime, less down-time, more frown-time, stress, test, not my best, shortness of breath, more seems less, and the powers that be just can't see, all wrapped-up in "me" now no time is free. As anxiety deepens, frustration mounts, blood pressure elevates. Fear creeps in. (Fear is a creep you know.) Promise seems to fade into shadows and the cycle spins.

So I run.

I run on the treadmill seeking endorphins and a fix for my physical fitness. My body is changing. Good - it needed it. I feel better. I've got my lungs back, I'm getting my joints back, and I'm getting my jeans back, and turning the clock back ever-so-slightly. I'm still sprouting hair in the most unusual of places, which has created a new fear - that I will end up looking like Steve Carell, but I digress. I'm embracing the changes in me to be physically and spiritually challenged and changed from glory to glory.

This morning I began to dig a little deeper on this front and started confessing my greatest fears to the Father (and now to you all). My biggest fear is that my loved-ones (mainly my kids) will not arrive safely at their destination - physically and spiritually. Max reminded me of the sparrows. The Father did too when they sang this morning in the sun-kissed frost of a new decade. Sparrows sold 2 for a penny and 5 for 2. Max talks about the fifth sparrow - the freebie not worth anything - yet the Father knows about the sparrow. It sang a song of promise in spite of the cold - in spite of the season - doing what it is created to do.

His promises are worth the daily digest. His promise is that He never leaves or forsakes. His promise is that He finishes that which He starts. His promise is that we can't out-sin His grace or outrun His pace. His promise is not another political mantra of hope and change, but a real messiah that delivers them both. His promise is that He will come again and that the paraclete will walk beside until then.

A new day. A new year. A new decade. Another chance to embrace all that is the promise of new life in Him and the journey of joy. What about you? Are you doing what you were created to do? We say "Happy New Year!" with the emphasis on the New Year. I think our emphasis should be on "Happy"! HAPPY New Year folks. Walk in promise and walk in joy. It's what He wants for us and what we're created to do.

Over-exposure to Urine Nation

2009-07-21T11:28:00.006-05:00

1 Peter 3:8-12
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

4 Free tickets and great seats - 0 Dollars.
1 Parking Coupon - 0 dollars.
T-shirt at the gate – 0 dollars.
Wearing spilled aaaaand recycled beer home from the ballpark – PRICELESS.

We were the recipients of a wonderful blessing from my wife’s boss (and our friends) the Moreno’s who gave us free tickets to the Texas Rangers baseball game last Friday night. We made it a guy’s night out so my son Caleb, my dad, and my uncle Jim all went with me to the game.

It was a fun night in spite of a poor showing by the home team. After a 5-3 loss the Rangers decided to celebrate with a fireworks display. Since I had to rise early for work on Saturday morning I suggested we skip the show and head on home.

As we descended the stadium escalator, it was evident traffic would be light as most folks appeared to stay for the pyrotechnics. Much to my chagrin, we were met by a State Trooper and stadium personnel at the entrance to our parking lot who informed us the Fire Marshall had closed it off until completion of the fireworks show. Great.

We tried to make the best of it and took some pics with our cell phones and ooohed and aaaahed with everyone else. Finally the show ended and we were allowed to proceed to our vehicles. So much for the head start and light traffic.

We had positioned ourselves on what we thought was the row on which we parked. After looking for a couple of minutes I decided we were a couple of rows south and headed that direction. I spotted my truck in the distance and called out to my companions that I had done so.

As I was making the trek toward my truck, at about 30 yards I noticed the silhouette of a shadowy figure standing next to the back passenger door on the driver’s side. My first thought was “look at this drunk, he’s waiting at the wrong truck for someone to let him in. I kept walking and begin to think maybe this guy was actually trying to break INTO my vehicle. THEN it DAWNED on me…

SON OF A **B#+CH**!!!!!!! He’s pissing on my truck!!! I took off into a dead run with the intent of way-laying him when I got there. It is truly amazing how many thoughts can pass through ones head in a very few short seconds. When plotting my strategy of what kind of justice I would inflict when I reached the peeing perp the progression produced 3 possibilities:

· Cold-cock him in the jaw with a right hook. This was my first and favorite option, but consequences could be rather servere up to and including arrest and law suit.
· Bust him with a head-first tackle analogous to a linebacker hitting an unsuspecting quarterback. The downside to this approach would be that I would wear his urine home all-over the front of me as well as likely having a good bit of road-rash from the asphalt and ensuing scuffle.
· Launch the punk by shoving him backward into oblivion and pray a vehicle pass by at just the right moment so he could land “softly” upon their side-view mirror...

I chose option 3 which proved to be somewhat effective with one small strategic weakness. When I arrived in a full run and shoved him, I had cups in my left hand, so it was a right-hand heavy shove. Well, he was standing at a 45 degree angle toward my truck, so this served to spin him toward me as he flew backward.

The unpleasant sensation of pee going up my leg was quickly realized. Did I mention I was wearing shorts? And with gravity apparently playing for the other team all night, the unpleasant sensation of urine traveling back down my leg was also quickly realized. Nice.

As “dipstick” struggled to his feet with his over-sized shorts around his ankles and “dumb-stick” in his hand, he informed me that we would be “going at it” once he got his pants on. I told him I was more than happy to oblige. I turned to my uncle and told him to get the cops while I set the cups down on the hood of my truck in preparation for the dance-with-the-dumbass. I’m not sure if it was the rage on my face or the fact that they knew they were in trouble, but piss-boy’s buds convinced him it was time to make their get-away.

I took out my cell phone to take a picture of their license plate all the while displaying the love of Jesus for them in my angry tone. I suggested they stop the truck and let me lay hands on him again. They refused, but the water spigot did lean out of the window in a display of adolescent wisdom and asked, “Why are you harassing a bunch of teenagers just out having a good time?!!” "Excuse me? Are you kidding?!!! You're a moron!"

About that time up rode two of Arlington’s finest on bicycles. Officer Rollins hopped off of his bike and pushed me in the chest while yelling,
“Don’t put your hands on me!”
“WHAT?!!!”
[I was thinking “officer, if I could direct your attention to the jumbo-tron for a replay, you will notice that it was you who pushed me.”]
I yelled back at him, “I didn’t touch you! (Pointing to the now stopped truck) That @$$hole over there pissed on my truck!”
“Sir! Do you have any identification!?”
Noticing that the other officer (female) had extracted the fountain of youth from his get-away vehicle I calmly said, “Yes.” So I handed him my license.
“Now tell me what happened.” (In his now calm voice)
(You may not have been paying attention earlier when I mentioned this, but) “That @$$hole over there pissed on my truck!” (I don’t think I have used the term “piss” more in my entire life combined, than I did that night - probably because I was really pissed off – and on.)
“Show me your truck.”

I escorted the officer to my truck and showed him the puddle next to it and the still wet stain on the nurf-bar (step). He apologized for getting in my face initially and informed me he would “write him a citation for pissing in public.” Great – now I have him saying it. So that was very little consolation to me. I wanted vengeance and justice. I wanted to kick his ass. I wanted to inflicted pain on him then pee on him. I wanted all things non-loving and non-redemptive.

The Lord has been dealing with me about the concept of redemption lately. How can I be a redemptive force in the lives of others? What must I do to be saved from me? Do I really believe in “turning the other cheek”? Do I really love others like He does? What do my actions tell others? What is the balance of showing love and being a doormat for others to use to wipe their feet?

In two separate venues recently I’ve heard others speak on Jesus being the image of the Father. I’m still being conformed into His image and likeness. I’m obviously not there yet.
Most people would certainly have no problem with my actions of unrighteous urination indignation that night. The onlookers were plentiful and one lady ready to assist in taking him down.

The nerve of this idiot! How he could expose himself in such a setting with women and children passing by on the way to their cars? Justifiable homicide would have been well, um, justifiable. Apparently there was a lack of evidence on the whole matter of an indecent exposure charge.

So – what would you have done?

I’m not sure a do-over would have rendered different results for me, but I’m seeking God on what I should have done or could have done better. On the ride home the consensus was that I had done the "right thing." All I can say is it didn’t feel like it. Maybe it was my attitude, maybe my self-awareness, or the defense of my pride and property. Whatever it was, it wasn’t redemptive, at least that I could tell. I will say this however, it was an exciting trip to the ballpark for sure.

The Twelve Volt Vasectomy

2009-05-25T10:02:00.061-05:00

Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Especially when He sends a helping hand).

I am not a car mechanic. I hate working on cars – hate it. Loathe it. I would rather endure a seven-hour lecture from Fran Drescher on knitting than work on a car. That said there are a few basic auto-maintenance tasks that a man should be able to navigate with no trouble whatsoever.

Among these are: Fill the gas tank, fill the washer/wiper tank, top off the radiator, check the oil, change the oil, change the oil filter, change the air filter, change the wiper blades, change a tire, and replace the battery. Until a couple of weeks ago all of those tasks were on my radar list of “easy-peasy” items I could perform. In fact most of the women I know could negotiate these tasks with little to no trouble. (Let’s save the gender role discussion for another day).

As circumstance would have it, my date with the automotive urologist had been scheduled. We have a 1997 GMC Sonoma pick-up that we had promised my youngest daughter she could use for her vehicle when she started driving. It had been sitting idle for about a year and was in need of a few things to get it running properly again. The first item on the agenda was a new battery. Pssssht. No problem. At least so I thought.

We let Katie get some “skin in the game” by having her purchase the battery. I, being the macho he-man daddy-hero would install it for her. The style of battery in this truck has the “recessed” posts on the side of the battery rather than the old top posts with cable clamps. I started by attempting to remove the positive connection, but it was really tight so I removed the negative side first. I went back to the positive side which is where the real fun began.

That connection was locked up worse than a cheese-tasting judge at a Wisconsin county fair. I tapped it with a screw driver which eventually lacerated my thumb. SON OF A!!! Perfect. Talk about "skin in the game"!!!

So back to the siezed-up battery connection...I poured 7-up on it. I poured baking soda and water on it. I sprayed it with WD-40. I yelled obscenities at it (and its mother). I did everything short of a rain-dance to try and get that sucker broke loose. Nothing. Not a squeak. Not a peep - just this stupid sheep.

In my frustration with both my lack of mechanical engineering prowess, and my depleted testosterone levels, I threw the channel locks at the battery muttering/grunting the f-bomb in slow extended and exagerated fashion as it flew towards its target. Crunch! Plastic battery housing flew into several pieces as the channel locks lay lodged in between what was left of the battery and the radiator. Like a menstruating adolescent I stormed into the garage to plot my next move and reward my lunacy with a cold beer.

As I studied the fallout from my fit of foolishness I noticed a new strategy had emerged. Seeing that the housing was so brittle I determined I could cut the post out and attack the post connection with channel-locks in both hands to leverage the post cap off. I tried the hacksaw first. Nope. Then I tried the serrated sheet-rock saw. Nope. Finally I attacked it with the pruning loppers which proved to be my first real good decision of this entire process. It went through the plastic like a food processor going through an avocado.

Once I had extracted the positive post from the battery housing I could now lift it free of the engine bay and concentrate my efforts solely on the cable/post connection. This proved to be every bit as frustrating as the rest of the task to this point. More soda. More WD-40. Less progress. Dammit!

On to plan C or D. Katie called one of her classmates who loves working on cars, batted her baby-blues and Voi-la! A spliced cable connection and juice route for the new battery. Wow. 18 year old kid shows old geezer the ropes on changing a battery – how humbling – how humiliating. What the heck!???!!! Eventually the battery was installed and the truck she runs...with issues.

What can we take from this malaise of machinery misfortune? We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and if we are willing, we can learn something from just about anyone. Over the years, I have learned many things from people several years my junior. Sometimes they took a real power-trip from it, others extended pity and disdain, while others were gracious and helpful. Regardless, I usually come out on the other side a better human being even if only in some very small ways.

And what was my Heavenly Father allowing me to learn personally from this grandiose experience? I think I walked away with a greater understanding that I don’t have to be the stud of every pasture. Sometimes I can just be the gelding grazing on some green oats letting the wind blow through my mane. What a joy to know that even in my worst moments He speaks to me, loves on me, and lets me live another day to try, try, try again.

Humbly His...still. I need more of Him...still.

Tim

Nocturnal Narcissism

2009-01-31T12:30:00.004-06:00

Lamentations 3:22, 23 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning...

So I have this privilege of being one of the first people in our time zone to thank God for His mercies that are new every morning. I’m often walking out to my car a little after midnight and try to make it a point to do just that – Thank God that I am starting a new day with His mercies in full view.

As I ponder the mysteries of His love for me, it challenges me to greater heights and depths of my journey with Him. Some of it is based solely on scriptural application and revelation, but much of it just overflows from our walks and talks together.

This past Monday night I was heading down the aisle toward home when He spoke to my spirit and said, “You are entering a period of repentance.” Wow. I began to confess aloud my sin and it echoed the halls of a near empty production facility. It made me think how a “house of production” can still be void of life. Sometimes that is me.

Romans 2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

I often make the point that “activity does not equal productivity.” We can do the wrong things and cause set-backs. We can do the right things for the wrong reasons and erase the deed with motive. These are all things that challenge me in my journey. I can win many battles while losing the support of others. So with this simple “word” from the Father my confessions and repentance began to flow, starting with dead works.

Hebrews 6:1 …not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death.

Most of my sin, it seems, is about “self.” Go figure. My confession went something like this: “Lord I repent of selfishness acts, self-righteousness, self-sufficiency, self-gratification, selfish ambition, self-sustainment, selfish pride, fear, lust, envy, gluttony, greed. I need You to fill the places and spaces of my heart that those things occupy. I realized in a moment in time that those things had crept in on me, even in small ways, like a snake slithering into a henhouse bent on theft and destruction – a nocturnal narcissism if you will. It is still all about me.

John 1 Light dispels the darkness.

Isn’t it interesting that no matter how deep the void, or dark the night, the smallest ray of light penetrates it and pushes it back? That is the relavent revelation of God. When He shines His simple Light on my soul, it saves, delivers, and heals. He brings life to the party. His blood filters my sin from His throne, and He makes me feel at home once again.

I know this is simplistic fundamental stuff for we “veteran” Christians, but we need these reminders to curb-check us back to the straight and narrow. It’s easy to let the cares of this life choke out our joy, or the decietfulness of wealth and riches keep us from being fruitful. Our soil can be soiled with rocks and weeds and deeds and me, so we must tend the garden.

Ground gained must be maintained.

As I enter another season of repentance, I am grateful the pursuer has never stopped chasing me. I’ve been tagged again to chase Him back. Like a Dad playing with his kids, He lets me catch Him pretty quickly and we tumble in a heap of laughter and love. What a Savior. What a friend.

Psalm 51

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

Thoughts on "Change"

2009-01-20T12:08:00.012-06:00

Inauguration Day - A rare politcal/social/spiritual commentary for this space...

Psalms 75:7 But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.

We have a great and wonderful tradition in this country of a peaceful transfer of power from one leader to another. People that were once political opponents on this day find a way to set aside those differences to change the guard. Even so, not all change is good.

Change for change sake doesn’t necessarily bring forth good fruit. Sometimes men trade in their wives for a younger model for selfish reasons only to find they (as my friend Byron says) traded in their “treasures for toys.” I fear we have done this as a nation.

Change should never be the goal. The goal for the journey is progress. Progress is not found in slogans or even “hope.” Hope is the passive emotion of most cowards. A message built on it alone is empty platitudes. Faith, however, is substantive. Progress is found in wisdom mixed with faith working in concert with corresponding action. Absent any of those ingredients, failure is assured.

Looking back at the Bush presidency, there were many failures that led us to this moment in history. For many conservatives, President Bush’s support of campaign finance reform, (illegal) immigration reform, and his unwillingness to openly defend the war effort cost him their support. These 3 points alone not only cost he and the republicans their base of support,but ultimately the congress and the Whitehouse. The other grave unintended consequence may be final dissolution of American capitalism. For a conservative this is unforgivable.

There are many things Bush did right as documented in this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/4241865/History-will-show-that-George-W-Bush-was-right.html With the promise of “change” starting today, we can be sure that the tectonic shift of political power will result in policies that will have the ignorant swelling with pride as our country swells deeper into debt. To some this has the sinister scent of a totalitarian conspiracy driving us headlong over a socialist cliff where only the centralized government can be the end-all answer to any problem we face. It seems we may have already arrived.

The young messiah is preaching his sermon of government bailouts and salvation to the masses, while the rest of us go about our business working and producing. The promise of free healthcare, free school lunches, free college education, free homes, free cars, free gas, free this, free that , etc., etc., is a myth that for some is too much to resist.

Anyone who is in the target zone of being told how to run their business, who they can hire, or how much more they will have to give to others understand the price. The very policies that brought us the economic crisis and failures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the very policies that are being prescribed to treat the illness. That is like prescribing arsenic to treat arsenic poisoning.

So here we are at the place or “equality.” A President elected because of race and “destiny” unscrutinized and lionized by a biased media that I dare say will refuse to criticize when the real crisis takes place. Instead they will just blame Bush because after all, to them he is evil incarnate. Well, just so you know, I will be here as the faithful opposition to socialism and the advocate of capitalism. The former has never worked and the latter always has, so why we would try to “change” that is beyond me.

For my “moderate” friends who sort of shrugged and said “He sounds nice I think I’ll vote for him,” or whatever other “core convictions” that don’t drive your decisions, might I remind you that John McCain was very much the “moderate” you all supposedly desired. So what is it that caused most of you to vote for the other guy?

Regardless, the peaceful transition of power is a pretty unique thing in a world wrought with regime change and unrest. Unrest we will always have as long as the peoples of the planet look to a human being for their well-being. The “change” must come from within based on our personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe. The created have fallen and we can’t get up without His eternal help. To look elsewhere for the answers to life’s problems is a futile exercise ending in frustration and disappointment.

I shall pray for our new President, first and foremost that his confession of Christ will be matched by his actions and policies. We’ve seen what professing Christian Presidents do when they compartmentalize their Christian ethics; we get such things as unregulated partial-birth abortion and an intern with a stained blue dress. Maybe this one will be better. I “hope” so.

My thoughts. I covet yours.

Tim

A Ruby Plus a Peppermint = a Gem

2009-01-12T13:17:00.007-06:00

Matthew 13:45-46 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."

I have recently begun to be more active on my Facebook account, and in so doing have started “reconnecting” with some old friends and acquaintances. Waxing nostalgic is sure to lead to two conclusions: 1. Those were the “good old days.” 2. I’m getting old and I can’t stop the clock.

Growing old seems unfair in the grand scheme of it all. My buddy Barry and I were talking yesterday about the irony of having the energy of thoroughbreds and the brains of a brick when we’re young, but as we age and mature, our metabolism plummets like said brick thrown out of an airplane. Oh the gravity of it all. What a waste.

When we actually have the brains to make a difference, it seems our bodies relegate us to “supervision” as we try to convince the youngsters they don’t have a clue and should really listen to our instruction – you know – like we listened to our parents. Snort – cough. The only revenge is the “I told you so” and the threat of spending their inheritance, which in our case includes a box full of expired Sonic coupons and some old clothes the Goodwill wouldn’t take.

This past Christmas I had an opportunity to visit with some relatives I hadn’t seen in a while. My cousin’s widow Renay was there and she entertained us with a couple of stories about her mom “Ruby” who is 84. Allow me to share a couple of those priceless stories with you.

Recently Ruby needed to update her photo-I.D. so they took here down to the DMV to have her picture made and her profile updated. When it was finally her turn, the clerk asked Ruby if she was ready to which Ruby responded with a “flip-of-the-bird” and a hearty “yes!”

Holding middle-finger in place she sported a smile that everyone but the clerk appreciated. She apparently found the only clerk in existence that showed restraint. That is a pic that I would have taken immediately – just before the “do-over.” This has apparently become Ruby’s modus operandi as seen in this pic below of her and her great grandson.

Ruby’s other “new thing” is her ever-increasing fondness for peppermints. This has become such an issue for her that Renay and family have had to start rationing these little gems out to her. She has apparently begun hiding them from others to ensure the integrity of her stash and an uninterrupted supply.

On a recent trip to Carrabbas Restaurant, Ruby spotted the giant bowl of peppermints at the hostess stand as they entered. The plotting immediately went into motion on both teams. Ruby began to wonder how she could score some of those mints while Renay began to worry about the obsession.

As mealtime came to a close Ruby told Renay to make sure she got her some peppermints. Renay took the bill up front and asked the hostess to hide the bowl of peppermints so her mom wouldn’t see them on the way out. After she paid the bill, she brought back 3 (count ‘em 3 and only 3) peppermints for Ruby.

Ruby was having none of that so time to implement Plan B – The Frontal Assault. As they headed for the exit, Ruby executed the veer offense and headed straight for the hostess podium as fast as the walker would crutch along. With every step closer you could hear the scoot and plop grow faster until the scoot-plop scoot-plop rapid-fired into scooplop-scooplop.

Finally reaching the stand she, with the forcefulness that would have made Bonnie and Clyde cringe, demand the booty! “Give me the peppermints!” she ordered. With the deer-in-the-headlights look of a deer-in-the-headlights, the hostess responded with, “Um…we’re all out.”

Shoving her walker into the podium as a hockey player checking another into the boards, and raising her voice to the proper decibel level in which to gather enough uncomfortable attention from the other patrons, Ruby replied “The hell you are! I saw a whole bowl of them when I walked in! Now give me the damn peppermints!”

Hesitantly reaching beneath the podium, the hostess retrieves the bowl and hands it to Ruby, no doubt assuming Ruby would take a handful and be on her way. Ruby takes the bowl and empties the entire contents into her purse. Success!

While these anecdotes are funny there are many principles one could glean from them, one of which is to never underestimate the savvy ways of a grizzled veteran. What we lack in energy we make up for with shrewdness and/or determination. An old KLIF sports analyst Leon Simon used to say “‘want-to’ beats ‘can-do’ every time.”

Obviously there are things in our lives that seem insignificant to others that we find worth the fight. The challenge is determining whether or not they give us a real benefit or is it something that is truly a problem for us that we should eliminate or limit in our lives. So what is your peppermint? Is it fault or a gem?

Tim

Don't Look Back

2008-12-31T01:23:00.012-06:00

Philippians 3:12-15

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

As this year draws to a close, if you are like me, you have that introspective self-diagnostic inventory thing going on. A state of the Onion of sorts. I tend to look back and grade my life's journey for the previous twelve months. I'm sort of linear like that - a left -to-right timeline kind of guy that sees a calendar in my head with a list of successes and failures and wins and losses along the way. Where was I when the year started? What kind of growth, if any, has taken place? What kind of dynamics have changed in my life? Am I a better person than I was when 2008 started?

Many things have changed in my life since last January. In fact, "change" has been the theme of '08 for me and it had little to do with an empty politcal slogan. One of my very best friends lost a daughter, another lost his mother, and I lost one of my favorite Aunts. I nearly lost a friend, and I just learned today that one of my uncle's had a heart cath and some stints put in. My youngest daughter turned 18 and just started driving this year. She promptly wrecked our car. No harm to her - thank God. I changed jobs within my company and am now working a different shift. My biology is still recovering to it's discombobulated sleep pattern. A close friend lost his job, found another, sold his house, and is moving soon. We started attending a different church.

So this is the time when we now look ahead to the coming year with hope and expectation and a disquieting resolve to face whatever comes our way with God's help, especially that coming diet. I have had a yearly resolution for the past few years that went something like "Purpose to thrive not just survive." I've not had much luck with it - at least as it appears on the surface if I were doing the grading. Each year seems to descend into simple survival at some point. If I can just make it through the day, or make it to the weekend, or make it to the next payday, etc. Do you ever feel like that? Just survive.

Is that really what we were created for - just survival? I have an "easy button" on my desk at work that when you push it, it says, "That was easy!" I push it every night when I leave work just to remind me that things could be so much worse so I should count my blessings. Blessed I am with good health, a great family, great friends, a good job, and a close friend in the Creator of the Universe.

I was talking with my bride about this today, and we know a number of people who are complacent survivors. For whatever reason, the fight isn't there unless thrust upon them, and even then sometimes it is AWOL. There seems to be this tendency to just take life as it comes rather than a proactive pursuit of it. Without intentionality, all that is left is the hope of the hitting the pick six lottery of happenstance. If we aren't intent on the mission then the mission fails.

One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-discipline, so why don't we more readily embrace it and appropriate it? Is it fear of failure? Is it the fear of what it will cost in emotional capital? Maybe it's the physical capital? Whatever it is, it robs us of our inheritances and blessings. So below I have listed a few of my favorite quotes, quips, and nuggets of wisdom I have learned over the years. They are not all original to me, but there is no way I could provide an accurate listing of their original sources, so my apologies in advance for that.

You get what you tolerate.

You can't see what's ahead while you're looking back.

Ground gained must be maintained

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

If it were easy everyone would do it.

"Life is hard. It's harder if you're stupid." John Wayne

Kindness pays eternal dividends.

Live passionately, give generously, love unconditionally.

Stick to your guns as long as they are loaded.

The degree to which one is offended by something will usually be directly proportional to the size of the chip on their shoulder.

Own who you are and what you do - even when you're wrong.

Change is inevitable. Don't fear it - Faith it (face it).

Seek God's face.

Happy New Year.

May you thrive in the coming year as you purpose to move beyond survival.

Don't look back.

From Manger to Mirror

2008-12-24T14:56:00.003-06:00

"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:10-14

This Christmas season has been a weird one for me. I didn’t hang lights, haven’t done much shopping, and I haven’t watched my favorite movies of the season yet (Elf, Christmas Vacation, and A Christmas Story). This is mostly due to my new work schedule and the company’s need for their all-star talent to be there 6-7 days a week to oversee our respective areas of responsibility. A bunch of Scrooges I say! Ba-HUM-bug back at ‘em!

On my commute into work the other afternoon I was praying, and meditating on “Emmanuel” God with Us. Every time I consider the magnitude of that simple truth I am again blown away - The Creator of the Universe taking a road trip from Glory to grace. What a concept; the King becomes a servant. The Good Shepherd starts off in the stable laying in a feed trough. What a perfect symbol with the food for our soul (The Bread of Life) being born in Bethlehem (The House of Bread).

I want so much to go beyond ingestion to digestion and assimilation. I keep eating. I am hungry for His Presence. The promise of Emmanuel is once again stirring in me beyond the season and the song and onto the sojourn. I think I needed to have the glitz of the holiday set aside so I could refocus of the babe in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Not exactly like this…

I’m so glad there is no naughty and nice list with Him. Quite simply the family gets the benefits of the inheritance, behavior aside. I love that we can be adopted as heirs and sit at His side. Talk about a GIFT! Try and top THAT one Santa!

What gift can I bring? Gold? Frankincense? Myrrh? How about my heart?

My prayer is that I bring a yielding heart that continues to surrender to His rod and staff. My desire is that when I look in the mirror and take inventory that I can see a little bit more of him each time. My hope is found in Him. He began something in me that turned me into a babe and a bride. If I’m honest, neither of those roles are ones I like to embrace. Regardless, I know He will bring me past all of that into the fullness of His Grace at work in me.

What a plan – God WITH us. I rejoice and I blush thinking of the comfort when I need Him and the disappointment when I fail Him. God with us. Something to consider. Something to treasure. Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh for a Father, a Son, a Holy Spirit. Three for He. Three for Thee. Three for me.

Merry Christmas

Tim

The Lone Ranger and Tonto

2008-12-09T12:50:00.005-06:00

My friend Cody preached this sermon recently…great Word my brother!

Mark 2 :1-5 Jesus Heals a Paralytic
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

I remember when we first met. I had been “set up” by a murderous clan that wanted me to be the fall guy. You came along and with words of wisdom helped me see a clear path out of that cave of frustration. Mining for silver, I found trouble, and a friend. In your youth and vigor you were fearless and selfless (mostly). You showed a propensity of the love for Justice driven by mercy. Where did you go?

In pursuit of righteousness with a gang of brothers you were ambushed by the enemy shot in the back by cowards. Wounded you bled and then I, Tonto, came along and nursed your wounds. You saw your friends and brother die in that ambush, yet something in you willed yourself to carry on and live the pursuit.

You used your brother’s vest to fashion a mask to hide your identity. Motivated by portions of fear and justice, you went about righting wrongs for others and that became your way to deal with the wrongs done to you. The concept of justice is worth fighting for and worth the risk of losing everything, including your soul. Salvation is not found in surrender – it can’t be because evil wins when we do nothing.

So many times you rode off into the sunset a winner, and a loser. Your pride intact, your cause defended, yet your soul was fragmented. You justified your actions because of the greater good. Eventually the fight became too much and you surrendered. Salvation was lost. No cause, no justice, no peace, just the stark reality that your mask and guns only provided a temporary medicinal rush for the bitter pain within.

You walked away. The cause seemed hopeless, the people were plastic, the posse indifferent, the life a myth. You checked out and rode off into the sunset because people were, well, people, and full of themselves, masked by the cause, driven by “purpose” yet void of virtue.

“F_ck it! F_ck it all!” you said. The badge has no honor only the self-serving agendas of the few. The pursuit is not worth the trouble. Too many dusty roads, too many broken lives, too many fights with outlaws, too many cold rainy days without shelter, too many sleepless nights, too many heavy bags, it’s just too…damn…hard.

Tonto shows up again; the faithful friend. The faithful one who fights the fights with you, nurses your wounds, travels dusty roads, rides through the rain, stays up with you through sleepless nights, and helps carries your baggage. He loves his Keemosabe.

He says little, but when he speaks you know it is truth. He is the trusted friend that finds you in your time of need. He is the scout that helps you get pointed in the right direction. He is the rear guard that has your flank when you stumble or get off course. His clothing and skin may look like the same material, but inside He is gold.

Your relationship was forged from times of hard work and the search for the precious metals found deep in earth and rock – our earth – HIS Rock. Now you need him. What you may not understand is He still needs you too sometimes. There should be no a-Lone Rangers or Tontos. We cannot go it alone; we weren’t built for that.

Call me.

Tim

John 14: 16-20 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

The Scent of Puppy-Breath

2008-11-13T11:57:00.004-06:00

Proverbs 19:11 A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

This week our family was blessed to get a new GoldenDoodle puppy named Barnabas which means “Son of Encouragement.” Yes we had ours on order long before President-elect Obama thought of getting one. We like to think we're "trend-setters" now. It has been a long time since we've had a puppy in the home, but it doesn't take long to be reminded why. It's like having a toddler and infant all rolled up into one cute fuzzy energetic package.

This precious little toot is in constant expeditionary mode, seeking that which he can destroy or "mark" as his very own territory. But of course he does so in a very gangly-but-cute gait-then-squat sort of way. Only puppies and babies can bring the “Oh, isn’t that cute?” observation to excretory exclamation. When he’s older it won’t be so cute. “Wait! That’s my rug!” Visions of Toby come to mind.

Some of our friends came over to see him the day after we picked him up. We sat him in 4 year old Jack's lap only to witness young lad Barnabas excitedly “bladder baptize” poor Jackson. I'm pretty sure Jack doesn't share the same high opinion of Mr. Barnabas as we do now.

So we have to be ever mindful of such things as electrical cords, shoes, and even our steps as puppy is ever-present beneath our feet. What a wonderful picture of how we should be in our pursuit of the Father. (Suffer the little children unto me, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven. Luke 18:16)

One phenomenon that I have yet to grasp though is this notion that “puppy breath” is a pleasing experience. My wife, one of my daughters, and one of my sisters all proudly proclaim the virtues of puppy-breath. I don’t get it. It has the aroma of dog food and feces, and for good reason!

I am currently working the 2:30 pm-to-somewhere in-the-middle-of-the-night-shift. When I get home, Barnabas and I do the dark-thirty test-of-the-wills dance in the backyard to ensure his crate training is up to date. Most nights, he’s pretty compliant, but some nights it can be a real challenge.

Our current ritual is that the rest of the family take care of his needs in the morning and then most days they put him in bed with me when they leave. So guess who gets to experience the puppy breath blessing up close and personal? Ed Zachary. Mois. I still don’t get it totally, but there is an odor of innocence about it.

When Barnabas crawls up on my pillow and snuggles up next to me, I am again reminded of the need to protect the innocent, watch out for the naïve, reach out to the fragile, and be patient with each “mistake” they make. God brings me puppies periodically to continue MY crate training.

When I feel “boxed-in” and I want to howl and whine and be all about me, I can rest assured it is for my benefit. The waiting, then anxiety, the restlessness is washed away when I realize “playtime” is (He) is coming. I can also exhale in His face with the understanding He loves me and embraces my temporary halitosis.

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

So who among you all likes puppy breath?

The Valley of Decision

2008-11-04T13:41:00.003-06:00

Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

I have wrestled with sharing this “politically” flavored subject in this space as I really want to use this blog to encourage build the Body of Christ, yet today I find there must be a voice added to the outcry against the deception taking place in both the church and society as a whole.

As I sit here typing away on my laptop, millions of people are voting today to determine who will be the next leader of the United States of America. I chuckle and mourn at the term "united" as we are anything but. Such is the climate of a very diverse society. We have traded the notion of E Pluribus Unum for E Unum Pluribus.

We have "diversity councils" and "affirmative action" and "minority initiatives" all trumpeting the virtues of our differences. We can't even decide on what official language to speak. Does the tower of Babel come to mind? Who is the author of confusion today? So as we plummet headlong into the extreme whole makeover of our government, I have a few things to say to my brothers and sisters in Christ.

We are first and foremost citizens of the Kingdom of God, and our allegence should be to our King above all else. How anyone could choose a "party" over our principals is beyond my ability to comprehend. You are hereby given notice our God does not sleep but watches closely his children and the citizens of His government.

Many of you who call yourselves “Christians” seem poised to cast your vote for a candidate that stands in direct opposition to the scriptural principals you profess to uphold. I know of many “brothers” who are gleeful at the prospect of an Obama presidency, and the messianic message and aura he has tried to project.

It indeed appears that Barack Obama will be our next "president." I put that in quotes because of his many stated positions that are patently anti-American and decidedly "unconstitutional." I have been following politics since 1968 (I was 8 years old). Since that time the cultural war has been in full engagement, and many of his ideas that were once deemed radical, are now being sold by the media as “mainstream.”

Being the political junkie that I am, I have never seen a more hateful and bitter candidate than Obama. He is prone to arrogance and incitement of the worst within his followers even encouraging them to"...sharpen your elbows and get in their faces." So Barack Obama - henceforth will be referred to simply as B.O. because I think his ideas and persona have the rotten odor of the flesh.

Consider the following truths and comments that were glossed over by the "arbiters of truth" as you witness the masses standing in the valley of decision:

Sat for 20 years under Jeremiah Wright's Black Liberation Theology and then discarded him like a wet sock when it became politically expedient to do so.
Started his political career in the home of unrepentant 60’s radical Bill Ayers who on 9/12/2001 said, as the Pentagon lay smoldering after being attacked, “I wish we had done more” referring to his groups attacks on the Capitol, the Pentagon and police stations.
Referring to people wanting to keep what they earn as "selfish" while proposing to confiscate their money and give it to those who don't work.
B.O. gave an interview to NPR in 2001 where he lamented the courts inability to “redistribute wealth” which he refers to as basic “political and economic justice.”
Jim Moran – Democrat from Virginia and B.O. operative said of the current administration, "We've been guided by a republican administration that has the simplistic notion that those who have acquired wealth should be able to keep it.”
“If someone wants to build a coal powered plant they can but it will bankrupt them because they are going to be charged a huge sum of money for all of that ‘greenhouse gas’ being emitted.”
“Under my plan of a cap and trade system energy costs would necessarily skyrocket.”
He holds the most radical views of the constitution – the document he would have to swear to defend and uphold, yet he refers to it as “THE FUNDAMENTAL FLAW THAT CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.”
Finally, he holds the most radical view of abortion of any major political figure of our time. This man voted AGAINST providing medical care for babies who survived a botched abortions known as “induced labor abortions.” Please watch this video and you will understand why this man is about to become President and why I believe America is about to be judged.

So given the dynamics of the political landscape, and the propensity of mankind to look to the flesh for comfort and provision, it is no doubt a foregone conclusion that we are about to embark on a tumultuous journey with dire consequences.

Proverbs 6:16-19
16 There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies, and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

He who sows to the flesh reaps from it destruction. Our country is poised to choose one who seems bent toward all of these qualities; the things that Proverbs tells us that God hates. Our job as sons and daughters of the Kingdom is to intercede for our nation that it will repent and have the spiritual awakening it so desperately needs. We will be the hospital to pick up the pieces as the civilian and spiritual war rages.

All Things

2008-10-14T11:44:00.004-05:00

Romans 8: 28-31 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this?

Some of you may have noticed that it's been a couple of weeks since I have posted anything. Some of you have my incoming email notifications set on "delete." Ouch. I have taken a while off just to decompress, get adjusted to my new work schedule, and exhale. It's been a tough transition for me, and frankly I haven't been at my best the last month or so. I'm so thankful that my status as a "son" is not based on behavior, but rather the grace of my Savior. As the Apostle Paul said, "Oh wretched man that I am."

I'm pretty sure the season I'm in is the "off-season" for my walk of faith. For those of you unfamiliar with that sports term, that is the time of year when there is training and preparation. It's the time when you get up early and run and lift weights and sweat.

Sweeeeet. It's also the time of the year when you learn discipline and measure yourself and take inventory. As I have been searching myself and taking inventory I have found a depleted will, a discouraged soul, and a tired body. Can you relate?

Yet, I'm so challlenged by the concept and promise found in "all things." The Truth is true whether I feel it or know it. My condition may be weak, my strength my be depleted, yet my Father continues to work things for my benefit even if I can't see it or perceive it. What a gracious Dad.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

I have lived a 21st century version of this the past few weeks. I have been hard stressed but not institutionalized, frustrated and in some despair, persecuted seemingly at random, flipped off and threatened and responded in like manner forgetting at least at that moment I was being "blessed." Yet the echo remains, "All things..."

Matthew 6:10-13 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

A few months ago I had a friend who was treated unfairly by his superiors. I happened to be invited to the meeting of his resignation announcement. He called me for a thermometer check to ensure my conduct would be virtuous and respectful at the meeting. He knew the temperature was high and the barometer was falling with storm clouds rolling into the area. I asked him if he didn't trust the Jesus in me. He said, "It's not the Jesus in you I'm worried about, it's the Tim in you that concerns me." We had a great laugh about that. "All things..."

It's so true, the Tim in me can leave the tracks when I see injustice. I want to set things straight and leave no room for the "vengeance" of God (whatever that is). So I attended this meeting having given my word I would behave, only to sit silently as my friend, and those in attendance were manipulated and ultimately insulted by unrighteous authority. Supposed men of God with an agenda of their own. I seethed with anger as one pronounced an incantation to mitigate any adverse effect to his paycheck and idol. "All things..."

I watched in dumbfounded horror as others sat silent, thinking at any moment those without the verbal agreement would grow some nads and speak up. I eventually came to understand many saw that his loss was their gain - an enhanced stature as his was diminished. We all like to be needed, and with his void the need would be great. Virtue be damned, it's MY season now. I struggled to love many of these people over the next few weeks. "All things..."

Trust is not my strong suit. My Father knows this. Time and again my trust has been broken, first by an earthly father I hardly knew, then by many a friend as a child, many a grilfriend as a young man, and by coworkers and "Christians" as an adult. Trust is hard because it involves vulnerability which often involves pain. "All things..."

Many of you are concerned, frustrated, scared or just down right angry about the current political environment and how things look for the upcoming election. As we plummet into unabated socialism because of media manipulation, evil incantations, and lack of virtuous opposition, remember the Truth. Even if we lose this great Republic, no government, no ideology, no stake we claim is worth anything outside the bounds of His great love.

Sometimes His Light shines brightest in the darkness of adversity. His grace reaches deeply in the lowest of valleys. His seasons include the death of winter to bring the Life of Spring. Be instant in season and out of it, and remember He causes all things to work to our benefit. I like the way The Message paraphrases some of this Romans 8 passage including a couple of other verses.

Romans 8:15-17 This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!

28-31 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun. So, what do you think?

I think that "if God is FOR us, who can be against us?" If we will allow the Jesus in us to overtake the (fill in the blank) in us, we might actually be salt and light and allow "All things" to work for our benefit.

Editorial note: This passage is often misapplied to interpret tragedy as being "God's will." Do not misunderstand that as "truth" or misapply this verse to everything that happens to you as God-ordained. He is big enough to take things that the enemy means for evil and turn them for our good, but rest assured, the enemy means evil for us that is not God-ordained.

Corrective Lenses

2008-09-26T13:48:00.003-05:00

I Corinthians 2:6-11 6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"[b]— 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him?

As I continue my journey through the aging process I have noticed my eyesight has deteriorated at a more rapid pace the past couple of years. I spend more time looking through the lower part of my eye glasses than I do the uppers. Vision trouble just seems to be part of the natural aging process. I’m reminded of the Apostle Paul’s seemingly random insertion of “See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!” in Galatians. So we can assume that even the great visionary of the New Testament apparently had trouble with his eyesight.

So how is your vision? I’m not referring to the natural eyesight but the one the Father placed in your spirit so many years ago? Is the dream still alive? Has it been diminished by compromise? Have you “outgrown” your child-like faith that once allowed for the truth that “with God all things are possible”?

Jesus said, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Mark 9:23

I know many a brother and sister that once had a vision and somewhere along the way it faded into “reality.” The idea that it must not have been God’s will crept in from the enemy and sucked the hope out along with the faith and energy to tend that garden. Just like Adam and Eve, many have eaten the fruit of “knowledge” instead of Life. Common sense told them they were being unrealistic.

Can I speak some “home on the range” truth here? The lie of being “realistic” is just bullshit. It’s the fertilizer that feeds the tree of “knowledge” and allows it to grow and crowd out the Tree of Life. Some of you have told yourself you are too old to start now. Some of you have told yourself that the obstacles are too great, be it geography, finances, or other resources. Some of you have forgotten our God reigns.

" 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams”. Acts 2:17
This speaks of two types of men - young and old. Young men are idealistic full of energy and naïve enough to believe “it could happen.” I often wonder if the old men here are dreaming dreams about what might have been. I don’t think that is the totality of truth in that passage, but I think it could apply.

No longer having the energy for the pursuit of their passion they slumber and let those thoughts float “sleepishly” with regret. (Sleepish = Timism contraction of sheepish and sleepy) May I encourage each of you to never accept the premise of “unqualified” or “unworthy”? If the Father gave His most precious resource as an offering for our redemption, then there is no other resource that He would withhold from us to see His purposes fulfilled in our lives.

The impetus for this blog came from surfing Valencia Hills on YouTube. I was so encouraged by this Pastor’s obedience to shepherd the vision God gave him for their community. If Jehovah Jireh can take 4 lepers and feed a city, he can take us to places beyond what we can imagine.

Ephesians 3:14-20 14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

I'm a Sole Man

2008-09-22T00:47:00.008-05:00

James 3:2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

I know the first part of this verse through repeated practice. Sometimes success is only found through repeated failure. This gives me hope for the second part of that verse as I am one well-oiled machine when it comes to eating shoe leather, or FIMS (Foot-in-Mouth Syndrome). "Hey bro! Um...is that toe-jam in your teeth?" A daily regimen of scriptural floss and spiritual mouthwash can help prevent, or at least help mitigate the effects of such soleful sucking.

Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt 12:34).

So just like in "Resistance Training" we find that our spiritual muscles need to be developed through disciplined exercise. When lifting weights to tone we are taught to do several repititions of smaller weights to the point of failure. There are some great spiritual truths here (I actually heard a sermon on this once), so don't miss the opportunity to be challenged and encouraged in the missing of the mark.

I really felt the past couple of days the Lord wanted me to share this simple message:

Many of you have stumbled. Many of you fallen prey to that sin that so easily besets you. Many of you are discouraged because things don't look like what you had imagined they would at this point in your life. Be encouraged. You are never out of his sight or his reach.

His plans for us are not subject to our ability to screw up. He is perfectly content to operate in us and through us in spite of, and in conjunction with, our - dare I say it? - HUMANITY. Don't forget HE created us in His image and in OUR humanity. He loves you and is proud to call you His own.

Something has become increasingly clear to me about our journey(s): We have permission to be human but no right to try to be God.

The wonderful thing is He loves to make deposits of His Divine nature in us and calls us to be like Him. Cool. He also understands "we all stumble in many ways." Cool. He's not afraid of our weaknesses, but loves it when we bring them to Him and surrender them again on His altar of grace. I'm thinking a few "deep knee bends" might help. And if your neighbor is hurting a bit, maybe a couple of "chin-ups" are in order.

Your comments and feed back are always desired and welcome. TM

Ibidum Ad Nauseum

2008-09-12T12:18:00.013-05:00

Sub-titled: Common Courtesy and the Couch-Potato Cruise-Control Kingdom of Christ

James 2:18-22 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[d]? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

I had an e(mail) discussion the other day with a friend of mine; it was apparent he hasn’t been reading my Blog. In MYPOD’s Ears Are Itching I discussed the disconnect of the body from the Head – namely Christ, and how our comfort and self satisfaction has become our primary focus in this world. It is as if we have been lulled to sleep by the fatted golden calves of our time which feed our flesh, and feed on our spirits.

Our schedules are full and our wallets empty, so the resources of grace that God has blessed us with are depleted. We’ve checked out in deference to our right to spiritual slumber. It’s time for an awakening thunder.

Back to my friend…we were discussing and debating our rights versus our responsibilities as Christian brothers (one to another). His contention is that a direct request for help neither requires action or response on his part.

Huh?

I pointed out the obvious error of that statement that to date the only response is from the crickets. He’s not alone. There have been a number of occasions in which I was coordinating different efforts to raise money, or help meet the various needs of brothers and sisters in Christ, some of which were close friends or relatives of those we were soliciting, only to be met with the Sin of Indifference.

My brothers and sisters this ought not be. If you are tempted to stake claim to your “right of refusal,” take that thought captive and submit it to the obedience of Christ - who for the joy set before Him endured the cross scorning it’s shame. Please don’t lecture me about being are “under grace not works”; copping that plea is simply copping out. Show me your faith by what you say, and I will show you my faith by what I do. (ibid)

And spare me the notion that we have no “requirement” to respond to a direct request for help. To simply ignore such a request is the stuff of darkness. Even the non-Christian people I know understand and practice the principle of common courtesy. In this case silence is not golden, unless we’re talking about that golden calf of self-interest. Even if the answer is “I can’t at this time” it is at least a response.

So, what could be the argument that would support the “right” to ignore? We have so many examples in scripture that directly refute this model. The Good Samaritan is a perfect one, yet somehow there are people that I personally know that take the way of the Priest or the Levite, suggesting that they are somehow “above it all.” “That’s not my ‘ministry’” or “I don’t have the ‘grace’ for that right now.” Excuse me?!!!

We are called to be salt and light.

Sometimes the salt is found in the sweat. If we never break one – how can we be tasted? It is also found in the tears of the cheek, but if we aren't available to "mourn with those that mourn" then our spiritual diet is bland or bitter.

“Light-bearers” are also burden-bearers, which often requires us to be our own pallbearers to get our flesh out of the way of the Spirit. If we fight against the weight of our sloth and nail to the cross, interestingly it becomes easier to take up and follow. Yokes become easier and burdens lighter in obedience.

We are good about giving lip-service to the concept of “community.” For many that simply means parties, going out to dinner, or maybe even a small home group provided the night and time-slot is convenient. The Truth is - it ain’t always about the goodies.

Sometimes it’s about the grunt work that brings the grace: the hospital visits, the late night phone chats, painting a few walls, working on vehicles, mowing a lawn, buying a lunch, and sometimes it is simply the cold hard cash.

Knowing what is right to do and not doing it is sin. (James 4:17) That James fella is a tough hombre!

We need to understand we are not our own, we are bought with a price, a very high precious price. That means our resources are no our own either, which will often include encroachments on our time and space. I once saw a quote that said, “Any problem that can be fixed by writing a check is not a problem, it’s an expense.” We’ve embraced the ledger mindset that sees writing a check as a valid alternative to investing ourselves.

I have served on a worship team at a local church for about the last three years. It is time consuming and at times financially burdomesome. I know others who serve their churches in similar fashion whether through music or teaching etc. The temptation is to have the "gave at the office" mentality and shrink back from service of other kinds. I know some who think that fills their "requirement." As long as we see good works as "works" we will miss the moment and the blessing.

One of our favorite charities is Habitat for Humanity (Jimmy Carter notwithstanding). It is one thing to send them money and quite another to put on the work gloves and boots and show up to help build a house. Another of our favorite charities is The Salvation Army. A few years back we loaded up the kids on Thanksgiving morning and went and helped serve lunch. Wow. No check or envelope of cash could ever replace what we received in serving that day. Our Father knows this.

Serving others doesn’t just meet their need in that moment; it brings life to the servant as well. It has nothing to do with spiritual pride, or some religious merit badge, it has to do with being intimate with others and in so doing being partakers of the Divine Nature of Christ. I am still incredulous at the apathy I have seen from some of my brothers and sisters who profess their faith yet cry foul when challenged by it, or ignore it altogether.

Well Wah! Just Wah!

Get off your couch-potato butts, on your knees, and over yourselves, and thank God somebody thought enough of you to help you in your times of need. Freedom in Christ is not about the credit account to self, but dying to it. Its’ about recognizing and responding to “the least of these my brethren.”

It’s funny how we are good at resisting this kind of challenge to serve, yet so poor at resisting sin which always, always, always points to self. It's time we disengage the cruise control devices and exercise some self-control for the Kingdom of God.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1,2

Void the Void

2008-08-30T22:51:00.006-05:00

Hebrews 12:1-2

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

I still find myself to be broken in so many ways; frustrated that I don't seem to walk in grace and faith and victory at all times. I mean really c'mon! How can I lose? How can I stumble or fall?! I have the Holy Spirit of God with me, Jesus in my heart, and His Word implanted in me. Obviously I haven't allowed it to be engrafted to the point of saving my "soul" (renewing my mind to the extent of walking in perpetual righteousness). I'm not saying I'm not saved - just incomplete in him

I often think of all of the Psalms and Proverbs that speak of walking "upright" before the Lord. I find that my gaze often darts from Him, or my countenance is humbled in shame. How can I walk upright before Him when I feel so inadequate in my failings and humanity? Oh that I could understand the treasure in the clay and walking in His way in lieu of my own.

As my flesh cries out for it's desires to be filled, be it Mcdonald's fries or the sloth of the sheets, I find I am as likely to walk in disobedience as not. I need some spiritual steroids, performance enhancers if you will. Now don't get me wrong, its' not about works to earn right-standing, but having my feet follow my confession of faith. I desire to have clean hands and a pure heart.

I believe two those things can be divorced. We can have the desire to walk in righteousness with our hearts in love with our Savior while finding that we do that that thing we wish not to, or not doing the thing we wish to as Paul says in Romans; or as the Hebrews author puts it, that "sin that so easily besets us." When we fall prey to such devices of the devil, or to our own selfish interests, we diminish ourselves with self. The Spirit seeks to sit where sin and/or self reigns. What is your sin(s) that so easily beset you?

The lust of the eye?
The lust of the flesh?
The pride of life?

Yep. That's me - all of the above. At some point or another, I will still fall prey to one of these implements of the enemy. I may see something to make my mind stray from Him and His purpose in me, or I will desire something that is contrary to His will and/or my benefit, or I will demand my right for MY way over his. Why is that?

I conclude there is still a void in me that needs to be filled with more of Him. So I am proactively seeking to submit more to Him today than I did yesterday, and then pursue Him with greater intensity tomorrow. Intentionality is a word I keep hearing over and over again. My prayer for you as that you will intentionally inquire of the Lord what you need to submit to Him this day so you can take that next step in your journey to Him and to wholeness.

I crave His Presence to fill the holes of my heart, for in His Presence is fullness of Joy. I have asked Him to illumine the spaces in me that are playrooms of darkness and let His Light dispel it. I continue to invite Him to come, stay, and occupy, instead of temporal visitations and manifestations of grace. Lord that you would live in and work through me.

May I walk upright before you looking into your face for strength rather than downcast in defeat. In You is found purpose so I sing your praise that you may inhabit it and me - a tent of your dwelling. Fill me up with your mercy and grace that I can walk as a son. May you too be refilled, renewed, restored.

Psalm 51:10-13
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.

Six Sigma...Sorta

2008-08-19T21:18:00.005-05:00

Eph 4:16-19 (NIV) From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

In the manufacturing world there is a point-of-focus tool used for efficiency and organization known as Six Sigma or commonly referred to as “6S.” These alliterative “best practice” categories (with slight variations from company to company) are listed as: Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, Safety, and Sustain. This is simply an easy way to remind people on how to order their work-life environs.

In the last few weeks I’ve been exposed to a couple of Bros who have had that same simplistic sensible yet spiritual sigma sound in their exegesis (see Jesus.exe).

My new friend Ty preached a sermon on the passage above. In it he spoke of our need to renew our minds so we could present our bodies (Romans 12:1-2). He talked about meditating on God’s word to allow the life therein to crowd out the crap (my word - not his) that has taken up residence. There is deliverance there. When we submit to the will of the Spirit, “works” can become a place of life-giving experiences born out of His grace and our Faith.

He spoke of the illegitimate ways we obtain Security, Significance, and Satisfaction. Those three “S’s” are found in the sensitivity of the Spirit yet we search for it in the scents of the flesh. Sensuality is never satisfied because it is driven by that flesh and its 5 senses. This is why the renewed mind is so vital. It understands that whole “Love is a verb” principle and willingly presents the vessel to be conformed into the Potters image.

Additionally, my buddy Paul was studying the parable of the Sower. As he digested this passage, he began to sense and see some savory spiritual Sigma morsels himself.

Matthew 13: 1Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."

My bro Paul noted the “birds of the air” coming to steal or snatch the seed sown is shown to be Satan. The rocky ground that doesn’t seem to support the seed sown because it is shallow he says is “Self.” And finally, the thorns that strangle the seed sown because of the cares of this world and pursuit of riches is this world’s “System.”

I can certainly see that this seed-sowing story says more than what we see on the surface. Jesus himself had to sit the disciples down and show them the truth of what He said. Seeds are sown daily. Good seed and bad. We can let the bad wither and die while becoming fertile soil for the good, or vice verse.

Our enemy prowls seeking to steal, kill and destroy; our selfish pride and lust of our own fleshly desires won't sustain the life of Christ in us; and our pursuit of happiness in any source but our Savior will choke out the destiny He has set in our sights. If we could apply the simplicity of secular Six Sigma to our spiritual sojourn then something savory and succulent might manifest in our journey.

Sort - put things in their proper perspective seeing with His eyes.
Straighten - as my friend Byron says, "make the first thing the first thing." Give stuff and Him their proper priority.
Shine - Let your light shine as a reflection of His.
Standardize - remember the fundamentals and your first love - Jesus. He is our standard by which we live, and our standard bearer and banner of victory.
Safety - When feeling vulnerable or weak, run to Him. Dwell in the secret place of the Most High beneath the shadow of the Almighty.
Sustain - He is the Bread of Life - our sustenance.

In Him we find we are secure, significant, and truly satisfied like no other. Through Him we have the power to resist satan, self, and senseless systems. So sing songs of deliverance, and celebrate being salt and seasoning in your surroundings. Sow, say, and share the salve of serindipitous service to others. See the glorious appearing of the Son in their lives. Savour the sound of sons and daughters sprouting as shoots of Saints, or as sand on the shore of His chrystal sea of love. Say, that sounds like the roar of rushing waters. Slurp.

The Revelation 19:6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) 9 Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' " And he added, "These are the true words of God."

Love is a VERB

2008-08-06T07:21:00.014-05:00

James 2:18-20 (NIV) But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-- and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

Zealot Tim the Younger was sitting at his desk one day at lunch reading his bible. The quietness of lunchtime in that particular place was an incredibly serene setting compared to most offices. As the prophet sat feasting on the bread of Life, a Catholic acquaintance of his came skipping by and noticed Tim lost in the Word.

Wanting to impress the studious man of God with his scriptural prowess, "skippy" pierced the tranquility like the first cannon shot in a volley of artillery. He fired off a quick quote of John 3:16 as he passed by Timmy's desk. To this the prophet stood and responded with equal self-righteous vigor, a line from the above verse, “Well, even the demons believe and they shudder!”

You would have thought “the Rev” (as he was known by many back then) had just set off a tactical nuke! The gophering that took place in that cube farm was nothing short of well, biblical proportions. Heads popped up with the ensuing interrogation from a few that went something sort of like this:

Faceless crowd member: “So you are saying it takes more than faith to be a Christian?”
Man Of God: No. I’m saying if you have real faith, your feet will follow what your mouth professes.
Insignificant sojourner: “What you’re really saying is that we are justified by works?”
M-O-G: No greasy grace guy, I’m saying if you believe what you say, then your faith will be on display in your actions.
Carnal "Christian Wannabe": “That sounds a lot like works to me.”
M-O-G: Um – do you use a black “highlighter” on the parts of scripture you don’t like? What I quoted was as much scripture as your beloved Baptist once-saved-always-saved so set the cruise control and onto heaven we go John 3:16 passage. If you don’t like James as much as John, just tear out that part of your bible and be done with it, otherwise take it up with the Holy Spirit, He wrote it not me. I’m just trying to walk it out. Any one else?

Heads slowly disappeared behind fabric of beige and crickets began their chorus of chirping once again. I returned to my bible study of one, unfazed by the spiritual wounds I had inflicted. Tim – 0, Others – 0. That exchange happened about 16 years ago. My oh my, how time flies when you’re slaying demons…and Christians.

Since that time I have gone more charismaniac, got burned out and left the church completely, embraced ooey-gooey-greasy-grace, returned to church, and finally discovered some modicum of spiritual balance while noting I am still in this tremendous glorious incredible and frustrating journey. Thank you Jesus.

I find that through it all there is still this battle between faith and works, and where one ends and the other begins. What I often discover is that others are okay with someone else doing “works” but are rarely okay in being challenged to engage themselves.

“That’s not my calling.” Newsflash: It doesn’t take a “calling” to recognize a need in someone. Insert primal scream here. I can see the “anyone can yell the truth” rebuke coming. Yep – and anyone can whisper “fire!” too.

If God is Love, and Jesus is the full expression of the Father, and Jesus is the Word, and the Word of God is living and active, then what in the wide world of sports are we “doing” in a proactive way to further God’s Kingdom?

It’s like we’ve become the Cousin Eddie character in Christmas Vacation who has been waiting for a “management position” for about 7 years. Hey Lord, I’ll just hang our here until someone in need falls in my lap, then I’ll call someone else who I know can help them.

My bride called her “Women’s Ministry Pastor” at a church we used to go to and asked for her to gather a few ladies to come with her to minister to a friend whose husband had left her. The agreed upon plan was to get two or three women to meet her at this lady’s house and just love on her and pray with her while my wife Ally cleaned her house.

A week or so later, at the appointed time, and as she was on the way to meet them, she got a call from the “women’s pastor” saying that no one would be meeting her and they felt like since it was her friend, she would be better equipped to minister to her (and clean too I guess). I’ve seen this type of nonsense in “the church” repeatedly, and we wonder why congregations dwindle and the world thinks us hypocrites?

Our Christian cliché of "Jesus is the answer" is really not enough to the world anymore – or even the hurting in the church for that matter. While that statement is truth it is not the whole Truth. The “Truth” is that the Jesus IN us may be the answer that responds to someone's pain or meets another’s need. If there was ever an example of Love as a verb it was Jesus and his relentless walk through this life meeting needs along the way, and ultimately submitting to a torturous death.

He spoke of examples like: the rich man and Lazarus, the Good Samaritan, and "the least of these." He taught us how in the sending out of the 72. He became the ultimate verb on the Cross, out of the grave, and on the throne. What's not to understand here? Pardon my passion but its time to get off your butts and love someone like He loves you, because this is how we know you are His disciples.

I am no longer impressed by the confession that rings hollow from the couch. Don't hear what I'm not saying. I know “good works” don't save you, but they are a pretty good yardstick for where you are in your journey. Some of you set up camp when you got saved and never broke it.

In the grace and blessings we all have received, how is it we still struggle with sharing our time, talents, and energy outside the Sunday morning church service? I love the local church, it does great things, but we can’t use that as our excuse to insulate us from where the rubber truly meets the road.

Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

We have had 12 straight days over 100 degrees here in DFW. I bet there were some homeless people that have died of dehydration. How difficult would it be for us to just load up a cooler of Gatorade, or even bottles of water, and take it to the streets and hand them out? Just giving someone a bottle of water and telling them that Jesus hasn't forgotten them might change their life. Jesus is our and their only hope-eternal and we need to share that with them.

Do the thing that is next, saith the proverb, And a nobler shall yet succeed: 'Tis the motive exalts the action; 'Tis the doing, not the deed. Margaret Junkin Preston

My friend Byron, a father in the faith, does some marriage counseling. One of the most important principles he teaches a young lady is to not pay as much attention to what a guy says, but pay close attention to what he does instead. As the bride of Christ, that is valuable information to have right there. Jesus’ actions matched his words. Does ours? Activity void of love is a clanging cymbal. Faith without works is dead. Marry those two up and it’s life. Let’s live it and move it!

MYPOD's Ears are Itching

2008-07-30T23:01:00.012-05:00

Mark 4:23-29 “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you-- and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain-- first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

It occurred to me recently that we have a whole generation of people that have the “buffet” mentality. Sometimes my son will gripe and moan about what is put before him at dinner lamenting the choice as if it were some sort of Guantanamo gumbo or something. He gets the usual comparisons to starving children in China, the brow-beating, and the reminder that it is God’s perfect provision for today.

The microwave generations have not been served well with their pre-packaged instant gratification in all things. Who could argue in favor of microwave popcorn over stove top pop with real melted butter except for some lazy ass? That’s right I didn’t stutter.

One of the things I find frustrating these days is that technology has driven us indoors and away from others. Thank God for TIVO – it’s the one invention that actually allows the opposite. Nowadays we have Cell phones, IPODs, and MYSPACE to secure our perimeter and chain us to ourselves.

We rarely buy CD’s anymore, we just pick and choose and download to our “selections” on ITunes and create our own online playlists. Guilty. Now this kind of freedom may seem harmless and desirable, yet I find it difficult to engage when one has their “Skullcandy” ricocheting tunes at 100 decibels through their, well, skull.

I’ve approached coworkers desks only to get the stink-faced “What?!” as if I had interrupted their honeymoon. What follows is the slow disassembly of the ear-wired connection, followed by the sigh while they press the pause function, and finally the “yeah what’s-up?”

“Oh nothing, I just wanted see if you wanted any donuts, but they're gone now. A dozen were eaten in the time it took you to undock from your IPOD. Sorry to have bothered you.”

And the only wave we might get from a neighbor driving down the street these days is if they can muster the strength to raise their pinky (it might as well be “tall man”) from the edge of their Razor as the pass by engrossed in whatever conversation that couldn’t wait to have on a landline.

When I checked out that term on Wikipedia I felt nostalgic. Give me a dialer and we’ll be down right retro! I know a number of people who don’t even have home phones anymore. God forbid they ever need 9-1-1. “I’m sorry sir – you’re breaking up. Did you say you had a burger or a burglar? Call us back from a landline please.”

How do we as a church reach a generation of techno-geeks that are more interested in being fed information and entertainment than gleaning information from a soft-covered collection of 66 incredible books? I suspect the E-version won’t make their podcast. My son can be up in his room with his door shut and August Burns Red burning through his brain and never hear me when I call.

It seems metaphoric to where society is today. God is still calling yet we’ve drowned Him out with the noise of our narcissism. We’ve used every piece of technology invented to fill up our schedules with activity and have forgotten how to rest in Him. We’ve made His world about us and we have become our own worst obstacle to intimacy with the Father and others.

How do we fulfill the two greatest commandments to love Him and others if we only hear what we pick and choose that our itching ears deem acceptable? The perimeter is secure, the personal space cordoned off, and the Do Not Disturb sign hangs conspicuously from the wires or phone stuck to our ears. We have caller I.D. and only those in our “Top 5” circle of friends can penetrate the “network,” otherwise you’ll just have to leave a message and I’ll hit you back later when it’s convenient.

Let me challenge the beloved to look outward again. Be accessible. We’ve been told that it’s important to have “unencroachable” family time, and we should, but I suspect that has become an easy excuse to get slothful and neglectful of communitus industria (community on purpose).

It is our call to “Go into all the world…” so how do we make a difference in it if we consume it for ourselves? How can we have “ears to hear” if they're plugged with the noise of our appetites. May we hunger again for His Word and His will. If you want to know if something is an “Idol,” lay it down for a week and see.

I want MYSPACE to be His. I want my Facebook to be conformed into His image and likeness. I want my playlist to glorify Him and further His purpose in me. The passage above is tucked neatly in the middle of three parables about “seed.” First is the familiar parable of the sower, then it directly precedes the example of the grain, and finally the illustration of the mustard seed.

What goes into our ears is seed. It is interesting to note that the seed is growing whether we sleep or are awake because it is the soil that makes it grow. We can be fertile soil for bad seed and it can grow in our slumber. Consider carefully what you hear – it may not be what was said.

What kind of earth are you?
What kind of seed is growing in you?
What kind of fruit will be harvested from you?

Tim

Embracing Gethsemane

2008-07-28T18:32:00.002-05:00

Matt 26:36-39 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

I often pray in the mornings on my commute to work. I started this particular day off with a T-G-I-T(hursday) because I get every other Friday off – which means it is really the “Friday” of my work week. As I was approaching the gate to enter the plant I heard one word, “Gethsemane.” Bitter sorrow for my sins began to well up within me such that I was almost too overcome with emotion to enter the plant. I slowed my pace toward the building to allow tears and emotion to subside. I’m such a woman sometimes.

I am blessed/cursed with hyper-sensitivity - my whole family is. It has taken me almost 5 decades to understand that and walk in it in a mature way. I’m still not completely there yet, but I know he wired me this way for a reason which I am sure is not intended for an inward focus but an outward empathy. It is disconcerting to me that grace is not a strong suit of mine; so rarely in my vocabulary I had to look up its spelling. Grace. It has a sweet sound. I’m pretty sure it has a sweet taste too.

As I continued toward the building I noticed a dove drinking from a puddle. The Lord has been putting dove in my path lately to remind me of His abiding presence. I know they are native to Texas and we have an abundance of them, but every time I see one I sense He is near. I need Him here. As I walked past this dove it seemed content with my close proximity and didn’t fly away. I know He is with me to stay. I suddenly felt Him wrap His arms around me. I thought for a moment, “Maybe I should leave my sunglasses on as I walk through the plant.”

2 Tim 1:4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.

Again I heard Him whisper in my spirit “Gethsemane. Go to Gethsemane.” My mind immediately went to Jesus weeping bitterly in the garden. He was frustrated with his disciples slumbering flesh and troubled about his impending torture and death. His faithful prayer of “Father, not my will but Yours…” rings throughout the annals of Christendom, and haunts us still today. Not my flesh but your purpose. Not my appetite but your bread of life. Not the wine of drunkenness, but the blood of the Lamb. Not me! THEE! I wanted to turn around and go home where I could weep openly because of my sin, my flesh, my will, which is often not His.

That word “Gethsemane” means “oil press.” Taken in its fullness back to the root word (sort of an “exegenesis”:) it translates to something really close to this: “the place where the richness of aromatic oil is pressed out so it can grow, enter, be set in place, come, bring, and/or accompany.” As Jesus wrestled with death and sin that he had never known, but was about to know in it’s fullest vilest form, the pressure of that inevitability brought forth (pressed) blood sweated through his pores. The olive was squeezed and the richness of His innermost being manifested in the selfless resignation of surrender. Three times he found his way to that place of “not my will but yours.” I’ve been in that place where I have to keep going surrendering something back to the Father – namely my will. I am there again.

I am in a place of repentance and surrender and it sucks, and…it is amazing. I can smell the scent of a garden where the night’s dew has fallen, and where crickets chirp, and where their song is interrupted only by the weeping of a broken spirit. The sound of snoring flesh tries to drown out the cry of my heart and the profession of my faith. I am troubled that I haven’t been here more often seeking the Father’s will and purpose in a proactive intentional way. An angry mob of fleshly minions led by selfish pride and a weak will seek to arrest my redemption. I confess I have no part with them. I’m a citizen of a different Kingdom where the oil of gladness and the anointing of the Holy Spirit reigns supreme; a place where His will becomes my pursuit.

What is His will? Simple – That I love Him first and that I love others like I do myself (Matt 22:37-40). Simple – that no one perish but all come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:9). Simple – that I be conformed into His image and likeness (Rom 12:2). Simple – That I listen and obey (John 10:-16). Simple – Give thanks in all circumstances. (I Thessalonians 5:18) Impossible when all I hear is me and not Him. He walked with us in the Garden of Eden. He walked FOR us in the Garden of Gethsemane. Meet Him there to walk with Him again. It is there He showed, and shows us now, how to do all the “simple” stuff I just mentioned.

Now if you will excuse me I have some weeping to do to cleanse the soul. I have to make a deposit where my Father awaits with his trusty little bottle to catch my tears.

1 Pet 4:1-2 “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.”

Journey on Back Roads

2008-07-22T15:59:00.001-05:00

Matt 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Every now and then I see something in scripture that intrigues me. Recently I heard a sermon by Cody that got me thinking about “roads,” and then I stumbled across an entry I had made in January 2007 that seems to fit. There are so many encounters that take place on “roads” in scripture. A few that come to mind are: Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza, the two disciples and magic Jesus on the road to Emmaus, Jesus’ encounter with the fig tree, and who could forget Paul’s encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus?

Sometimes God is found on the back roads instead of the front pews. Do we ever dare to take it "off road" with God or do we just try to keep it safe? Where is the sense of discovery when it comes to our relationship with Him? I remember being giddy when I was a young bachelor striking up a new romance with a young lady. Every thought was related to or consumed by my newfound passion, and I was Ponce De Leon set on exploration of every facet of their existence.

I should be like that in pursuing the Creator of the universe. It’s not like I’ll run out of things to discover. What is truly amazing about this experience is His ability to reveal things to me about me in the process (see “journey”).

This is a lot like marriage. I find that my innermost thoughts and issues are often revealed in how I relate to my wife in certain situations. Said another way, when the stress of life and marriage begin to tighten their grip, a good barometer of my spiritual health is how many of my own personal demons manifest. These guardians of all things self-absorbed are sure to challenge the slightest encroachment of their territory, hell-bent on preserving the flesh and the Kingdom of Clay.

So is my experience with my Jesus one that reflects a sterilized, predictable, safe walk in the park? Or am I willing to hike through some wilderness in order to find Eden? My Beloved stalks me, teases me, thrills me, and scares the hell out of me. The Comforter makes me uncomfortable. He stretches my heart to be big enough for what He wants to deposit there. Betrothed to His will, I submit to the tearing of my flesh that I may in the end be joined to Him in the penetration of my spirit; deeply touched, passionately embraced, profoundly changed.

This place is not found at the park, but in the secret place of the Most High, beneath the shadow of the Almighty. Gabriel told Mary that the power of the Most High would “over-shadow” her. I have recently begun to understand the mysterious power of that event. While it involved flesh and spirit back then, today He still wants a similar encounter with each of us to deposit His seed of love in us according to His Word.

We are meant to be partakers of the Divine nature and partners with the Heavenly Husband to reach a world struck down by separation from God and rejection from each other. With our marriage to Him, we can minister life to the lonely and direction to the lost. In being saved from the safety of ourselves, our lives can become a down payment of hope for a life of meaning and mission. Some missions take us down lonely dusty trails, so it’s nice if we’ve explored a few first.

Sidebar: I know the analogies here have not escaped the reader. What I find interesting is that much of the spiritual journey is related to the tearing and breaking of flesh. First we have circumcision. Then we have consummation (broken hymen) and the initial “deposit” of the seed or word becoming flesh. And finally we have birth, or the product of that communion, which again “tears” the flesh. Don’t lose the beauty of these analogous events in how the world has perverted them. There are genuinely some deep spiritual truths here.

P.S. Editor’s note: The greatness of Steve Perry was he could sing as well live as mixed in a studio. Wow.

Resistance Training

2008-07-17T18:12:00.009-05:00

1 Tim 4:8-11 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things.

Heb 12:11-12 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.

Have you ever waded in a river or stream where the current rushed around you, or the ocean with it’s waves relentlessly pounding against you? The struggle and pressure can provide quite a workout. After such waterobics the muscles can seem weak and tremble with exhaustion. Ultimately the benefit is added strength.

Over time these spells of opposition, whether lifting a heavy load and carrying it, standing beneath the weight of it for some period of time, or the course of opposing force can strengthen our feeble knees.

The stressful current of the world presses harshly against us and it seems at any moment it will carry us away. We live in a hostile environment, and the prince of this world would like nothing more than to steal, kill, and destroy those of us serving the Prince of Peace.

I am often conflicted when I see good people go through tough times. It pisses me off. The last ten days has been one of those seasons for a dear friend. It was a flashflood of angst and illness.

Isa 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

One of my very best friends on the planet went into the emergency room last week with a terrible headache. A day later we find out he had a tumor on/around his pituitary gland and pressing against his optic nerve. What the? He’s 42 years old in a couple of weeks, has a wife and two sons, and now he’s got to deal with this crap?!!!

What is so awesome is that our God doesn’t leave us to traverse these raging streams alone. I will try not to steal Barry’s thunder, because I know many of you will hear his testimony of God’s greatness in the near future. What I will say is this – no more tumor – lots of Glory for God. That is so cool.

Barry and family witnessed firsthand the love and grace of God that says, “I can and I will.” They witnessed firsthand the extension of the arms and legs of the Body of Christ. They witnessed firsthand the power of God manifested in the difficult circumstance transformed into a testimony.

They witnessed firsthand the power of God from His people loving and crying and praying and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. They witnessed firsthand the power of God in the bad report becoming the praise report. Benign. Caution. Peace. Rest. Wholeness. Soundness. MRI. Tumor - gone – all of it. Miracle. Going home whole. God is faithful.

I witnessed first-hand the graciousness of friends, family, and brothers, and sisters in the Lord rallying to Barry and family’s side. I witnessed first hand the application of faith before the verdict was in. I witnessed firsthand the confession of faith regardless of the outcome.

I witnessed firsthand the intercession, the love, the tears, the stress on faces, the pain in expressions, the joy in their eyes, the hope in their voices, the songs, the healing, and the recovery. Thank you Jesus. Forever Faithful and True.

The enemy is defeated. We know this. We proclaim this. We believe this and procalim it again. But please also know this: Faith is not necessarily the absence of all fear and doubt, but the momentum of the seed of Light and Life growing inside the heart of the believer. It illumines the shadows and dispells the darkness and overtakes the storm with the Peace that comes from the Prince.

Faith understands that The Father is here and that is all I need know. Faith renews. My faith is renewed. The exercising of it builds spiritual muscles that brings strength to walk through raging waters if needed, and on top of it when necessary. My friend is well and I am filled with joy.

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Nothing is Free so LET FREEDOM RING!

2008-07-04T11:44:00.009-05:00

You were bought with a price therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20

As we celebrate "Independence Day" I was struck with the thought that most countries on the planet have a day on which they gained their independence from someone else. Most of us can relate to being freed from something - like school at the end of May, or work when we go on vacation or holiday breaks, or God when we want to enjoy sin for a season, or sin when we turn to God in repentance.

I like the thought of independence. It has a nice ring to it - like a liberty bell might have. Seems there may be some cracks in the concept however. You see, we were made to be codependent creatures not independent islands.

Take the movie "Cast Away" for example. Chuck Nolan (Tom Hanks) is stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. Over the course of four years he adapts pretty well, but it takes another "face" to keep him sane - "Wilson." The guy was in such need of another that he invented one out of a bloody volleyball.

Interestingly (and symbolically) this friend was forged out of a painful experience. Not only this, Chuck found a way to leave his impression and fingerprints on Wilson's character. Chuck is such a great friend, he is abe to carry the conversation for the both of them. Some relationships are like this, very one-sided.

Do you have any friends that you feel like do all the talking (besides me)? Do you have friends that just sit on "mute" as you pour your heart out? These may not be friends at all, but instead may be an illusion of our own making to comfort us in our aloneness. Ouch.

Our codependent nature seeks to be nurtured and loved. Oh sure we have our moments where we think it's us against the world and we "don't need anybody" to make us happy, yadda, yadda, yadda. We're just lying to ourselves if we really think that to be true. Every "loner" I've ever met was unhappy and bitter.

We were created for relationship - first with God then with each other. In our relationship with God, we discover things about each other, and in our relationships with others we discover things about God. In our relationships with both we discover things about ourselves.

When I was a kid, I had a friend named Tommy that lived directly across the street. Check that, he probaby was not a true friend, just a neighbor, and my main antagonist. He found great pleasure in my disappointment. I would have done nearly anything for Tommy's approval. He was smart - a straight "A" student - and a head taller than me.

I felt as though he always looked down on me figuratively and literally. We played together often, but over the years I have come to understand these times as his own personal little clinic of torment.

He would suggest a sleepover that would never materialize. I would ask him to come out and play only to be turned down, then I would find him ten minutes later in his front yard playing. When he woud see me, inside he would go.

And so it went on like this for years, some days we would play, and some days he would manipuate. He was definitely the power broker in that relationship. One day he began to brag on his mom and her college education. My mom got her G.E.D. after leaving school in the tenth grade when her mom died.

Before I knew it I had punched him in the face. Much to my chagrin he just stood there with this pretty pissed look about him. Then he punched me in the stomach and I fell in a heap of regret, rejection, and sobbing frustration.

My only recourse was to run inside and tell on him. I remember there was a phone call and some discussion, but most of the "resolution" is a blur. The irony in all of this is that the first time I recall "making a decision for Christ" was when I raised my hand in a neighborhood bible school that Tommy's mom would conduct every summer.

They were Wesleyn Evangelical Methodists and we were Nazarenes. They were "once-saved-always-saved" and we were not. This may explain Tommy's mischieviousness. "Ahhh I'm in. I think I'll torment Timmy now."

This may also explain why I raised my hand every summer to get saved all over again, and again, and again. I just couldn't figure out why Tommy wasn't raising his, because if anyone needed it, it was darn sure that little devil.

I once witnessed he and Buzzy W. slice open a lizard on Buzzy's front porch. They discected it while it was alive, like it was a science experiment or a lobster being readied for the grill. I remember leaving in the middle of it nauseated and crying all the way home and thinking "those Methodists are messed up folk." They probably just needed to be saved again.

Those were simpler times with toasters and without microwaves. We had LP's not CD's. Turntables not IPODS. No one had ever heard of a cellphone, email, texting, or MYSPACE. Today's generation has shut the rest of the world out and have become the antithesis of selfless. (I'm speaking in generalities here.)

How self-centered is the concept of "MYSPACE"? Put down the rocks - I've got one too. I don't go there much, but you get the point right? E UNUM PLURIBUS! We've become individuals hell-bent on promoting our individuality.

We don't buy CD's anymore, but choose our favorites and download our playlists. Our kids control the message that goes into their heads and shut the rest of the world out via their IPOD. Society has achieved this sort of narcissistic self-sufficiency and we've put out the DND (Do Not Disturb) sign on the doorknob of our lives.

We are trying to decide what the terms and conditions of what we want from relationships all the while people need what God has deposited in you. We've put up the crime scene tape and arrest anyone that tries to cross it.

The crime scene is our heart and the crime is our indifference to others. The terms are the return on investment and the conditions include my ego. We don't reach out unless there's something in it for us.

We had ten commandments that went to two and somehow we've managed to erase those as well. The Body of Christ seems dismembered like a lizard under the scapal of a deranged surgeon. The spotless bride we are not.

Our spiritual and social masturbatory motives are taking a toll as we decide who is "in" and who is not. We limit our circles to convenience and cost. We fail to understand that the smallest investment can pay the largest dividends, and the failure to do so can literally crush another.

Beloved, being part of the body of Christ will cost you something besides a few bucks in an offering bucket and a trip to the local church for a couple of hours a week. It will cost you everything because He paid it all and bought it all with His blood.

Now let's get off our duffs and call someone we know who is hurting and needs to see Jesus with skin on Him. If you ain't there yet then get off your duff and get on your knees. If you have a "Do Not Enter" sign up, take it down. Your "freedom" to check out is nothing more than bondage to yourself. You have the key so unlock those chains an Let Freedom ring.

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13

Ordering the Privates Around

2008-06-26T12:29:00.004-05:00

Luke 3:1-2 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar-- when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene--during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.

In his book Ordering Your Private World Gordon MacDonald points out an amazingly obvious reality from this passage that probably escaped every one of us as we read it. In these two verses, there are seven men of worldly prominence listed, yet the Word of the Lord came to whom?

John the Baptist, preacher’s kid and quite an odd character to boot. His sense of fashion was a bit askew, and his diet was, well, organic to say the least. Yet regardless of his peculiar ways, The Father chose him above the others to announce the Kingdom’s arrival.

Isn’t it interesting that in an election year (here in the United States) as we discuss all things “change” and “war” and “gas,” we have people of stature, celebrity, fame, and influence telling us what is best for us regarding our lives and who should govern us? It gives me gas just thinking about it.

Even with the most gracious look at any number of these people’s private affairs, one should wonder why anyone would listen to anything they have to say. The culture in which most of them thrive is one of vulgar, vague, or at the very least, fluid values and selfish ambition.

So here are a couple of real Einsteins that have taken their politics and values public and think themselves worthy of emulation.

Most of these philosophical and social “messiahs” are in a position of influence because of their ability to pretend to be something or someone they’re not. Several of them still haven’t discovered who they really are, or to whom they truly belong.

Sadly many of them deny the very existence of the One who gave them their great skin, or thick hair, or amazing voice that gives them said influence in the first place. The irony is rich. It is appropriate that the term hypocrite comes from the Greek word that describes “play actors.”

With their private lives being perpetually splashed across the internet or TMZ TV, you would think the public would know better, but there seems to be this twisted transference that takes place in the secular mind that says, “if I vote for this or that person because famous Jane or John Celeb tell me to, then I can be identified with them and be cool just like they are (at least when they’re not in jail, or throwing up and sobbing on Doctor Drew’s rehab show). Yeah that makes sense.

But…lest we Christians become too self-righteous, our brothers and sisters have had and still have their share of carnal issues. We suffer from a divorce rate that by some estimates outpace the even the secular world; National Church Leaders caught in well publicized sin, and there are an estimated 50% (or more) of men in the church (including pastors) addicted to, or who regularly view internet porn (some estimates are higher) - look folks I know this temptation; been there done that. It’s hard – pun intended.

And unfortunately it’s no longer just a “guy” thing. So what in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here? Is our gospel that neutered? Is our life in Christ that ineffective? Has prestige and influence subverted the message of The Master? Instead of circumcised hearts we’ve spayed our parts and become God’s geldings. If our lot is with the world’s then maybe it’s better if we don’t reproduce. This is not the Father’s intent so I say let’s repent (See Psalm 51).

Beloved, it is so important for us to grab onto a friend to which we can be accountable who can encourage and rebuke and call us to purity. It’s time to be healed and be pure. If we want to see the active manifestational Presence of God in our lives, we must be pure.

Sin diminishes us. It feeds on our soul like worms on the dead. It heaps condemnation and silences the gospel. It turns the Blood and our testimony into mud and acrimony while our Savior desires matrimony.

I read this in Psalms 18 (v. 36, 37) this morning: You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn. Keep your paths straight and level and your limp minimal. Implement boundaries and give no room for the enemy.

Pray. Obey. Strip yourself of your “self.” Stand naked and void of the agenda of the flesh and embrace His Spirit. Breathe. Have communion beyond union. Put your privates in place and order your private world whether the windows of your soul or the tongue that brings forth salt and fresh water. This is not about performance but fruit – fruit that will last.

The Word of the Lord came to John in the desert. The Creator of the Universe spoke to little ol common John doing his thing in the place void of prestige and comfort. He was just being obedient preaching the timeless message of repentance. How could such a man submit to such a role in such a place at such a time? He was chosen because his privates were in place. He had his proverbial stuff together secure in the knowledge he was being obedient to his calling.

His personal relationship with God ruled his private life such that his public persona was of no regard to himself. I’m sure he declared, “Let them laugh. Let them point and whisper. Let them come, because in their coming to see the reed in the wind, the Holy Spirit will fall on many and they will be saved. I must decrease. He must increase.” His private world was in order – in order that the Kingdom might come. Let His Kingdom come in you.

Let’s quit judging people based on the world’s standards and start seeing with the God-filter (this is true of church leadership as well). While the world is watching to see who “the next leader of the free world” is going to be, I suspect Papa has His eye on someone doing His thing in the wilderness somewhere just being obedient reaching out to the hurting, lost, and rejected.

How awesome to know that though the world rejects us, the Creator continues to call to us with His love. Now - can someone pass me the honey? I’m going to see if I can muscle down a locust. Mmmm. Tastes like repentance.

Morsel of a Heath Bar

2008-06-22T11:16:00.021-05:00

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the church. Col 1:24

"I’m Not Who I Was..."

I was worshipping this morning while eating a bacon and egg sandwich and listening to the “Contemporary Christian Music Channel” on my cable TV network. Brandon Heath’s Don’t get Comfortable was playing in the background and at the end I thought I heard him say “I’m not who I am.”

That sparked an internet search of his vids and lyrics. So I decided to go junkin around in You tube and just check out the giant rummage sale of ideas and postings there. I stumbled across BH’s I’m Not Who I Was which I don’t remember ever hearing (but is probably what I heard him saying on TV). Like a Rolex laying hidden in a twisted mound of jewelry at said yard sale – I decided on a closer inspection.

What a beautiful message. But the words I thought I heard earlier “I’m not who I am” still haunted me a bit. I’m not everything I should be, nor am I everything I was. I mourn the former and rejoice the latter. I had listened to Chris Tomlin’s More Than Enough earlier this morning and was already challenged by it’s message too.

Is He more than enough for me? Am I not what I was? Am I what I profess to be? Am I the I Am’s or am I the My Am’s? Check out Brandon’s video and then in the spirit of that video answer the questions below:

Whose are you?
Is He, or are they/you enough?
What were you?
What are you?

I’ll start:

My Beloved’s.
I confess again - YES! More than Enough.
Messed up.
Fessed up.

Pretty Woman: More than a Whore

2008-06-18T12:48:00.011-05:00

Hosea 3:1-3 (NIV) The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Then I told her, "You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you."

I watched the movie Pretty Woman again with my daughter the other day. I know, I know, turn in my man card AND Christian awards pins? Can we dispense with the self-righteousness for just a few minutes and review a couple of redeeming qualities of that movie?

One is the redemptive overtone that is on display throughout. Edward (Richard Gere) shows a grace toward Vivian (Julia Roberts) the prostitute that is not unlike our Savior challenging the stone-bearers as to who is worthy to launch first? An interesting footnote: Edward means “rich or wealthy guard” and Vivian means “alive.”

For those who maybe unfamiliar with this film, Edward is a high-rolling business man in LA for a week who happens to get lost while looking for his hotel. He stops and asks Vivian for directions and she offers to show him to his destination (among other things) for twenty bucks.

They end up having real chemistry, intellectual discourse as it were, and he hires her for the week to be his beckon call escort for a number of events. Over the course of that week, Edward falls in love with Vivian and vice verse.

I want to share with you a few scenes that stand out for me, and really tugged at my heart. The first is where Vivian comes in “the morning after” their first night together and Edward has ordered breakfast – everything on the menu because he was unsure what she might want and didn’t want to disturb her sleep.

She sheepishly grabs a croissant while he is preoccupied, and turns away in shame and embarrassment (unworthy) while she eats it. All the while Edward, lacking nothing, doesn’t think twice about the cost of any of this, and his demeanor seems to put her at ease. Eventually she sits and talks and eats and eats and eats. Maybe not a perfect picture of our Lord, but some type and shadow there nonetheless.

Another poignant moment is when Phillip (Edward's Lawyer – played by Jason Alexander) discovers Vivan is a prostitute and is dogging her for her "ill affect" on Edward. He reminds her what she really is – “a whore” and then tries to rape her. Edward shows up and punches him out and then throws him out. A vivid picture of what the “accuser” tries to do with us, and how our Savior responds in our behalf.

And then there is my favorite scene.

When I was naked you clothed me. Edward sees she needs clothes and he clothes her – the least of these. What wonderful rights we have as a bride. The movie goes on to suggest they get married and live happily ever after, but Edward had paid the price for Vivian long before they were “married.” I know some of you see this as heresy, but you must admit, these are parallels to the process of our redemption in Christ.

Here are a few great quotes from the movie with some of my commentary added (source is IMDB):

Edward: You make $100 an hour and you have a safety pin holding your boot up?

And…

Edward: You can't charge me for directions!
Vivian: I can do anything I want to baby, I ain't lost.

It occurred to me that when we feel like we’re operating from a position of power (our element) we can sometimes fail to see our true condition (lost).

Edward: I think we both know she's not my niece.
Barney: Of course.
Edward: And the reason I know that is that I'm an only child.

I thought of the Kinsman Redeemer here. God’s Only Son covering the prostitute with his prestige and influence and expressing his value of her to the manager in a way that acknowledges her condition (what she is), but in no way affects her value as a human being (who she is).

Vivian: I appreciate this whole seduction thing you've got going on here, but let me give you a tip: I'm a sure thing.

How many of us will readily sacrifice our virtue for the place of provision? Little did she know how much Edward valued her outside her self-imposed “role.”

Vivian: I'm gonna treat you so nice, you're never gonna let me go.

As we fall in love with our Savior we begin to think we must perform in a way that will keep us from being rejected. While Edward in this scene is not a great picture of Christ, our true Savior didn’t choose us because of behavior, but because we’re his beloved.

Vivian: People put you down enough, you start to believe it.
Edward: I think you are a very bright, very special woman.
Vivian: The bad stuff is easier to believe. You ever notice that?

Wow. Been there. I know many of you have too. It’s easier to believe the lies the world keeps shoving down our throat over the truth of scripture.

And then there is this exchange:

Edward: Impossible relationships. My special gift is impossible relationships.

Vivian: When I was a little girl, my mama used to lock me in the attic when I was bad, which was pretty often. And I would- I would pretend I was a princess... trapped in a tower by a wicked queen. And then suddenly this knight... on a white horse with these colors flying would come charging up and draw his sword. And I would wave. And he would climb up the tower and rescue me. But never in all the time... that I had this dream did the knight say to me, "Come on, baby, I'll put you up in a great condo."

Vivian: What would it be like?
Edward: It would get you off of the street.
Vivian: That's just geography.

The last line haunts me. The Journey is never about geography. Relationship is never about aesthetics or appearance. It's always about covenant and promise.

Vivian: I want the fairy tale.

Edward: I never treated you like a prostitute. [Walks away]
Vivian: You just did.

How many times has the one we loved treated us like a cheap whore in their self-righteousness and then just walked away? Jesus would never, ever, ever do this.

Vivian: what's going on?
Edward: I don't know, you left and suddenly I'm in the middle of The West Side Story.

Edward eventually came to his senses and realized he loved Vivian and saw she was much more than what the world saw on the outside.

We often think of practical ways to help people without really considering their dignity or their value in the Father’s eyes. It’s important to remember we all have our designs on the Fairy Tale which is often born out of the pain of our past. The world will judge us based on our behavior and experiences, but the lover sees well beyond the coal to the diamond.

How many of you were whores and prostitutes just trying to survive when one day the Prince of Peace came charging in on His White horse and saved you? If we’re not careful, we can default to treating people like the whores they were, or are. Maybe we can consider the alternative to redeem them with the love of our Lord. Again, it's not about the behavior; it's about the Savior.

I'm so thankful He refused to throw rocks at me. Instead, he allowed himself to be beaten after a long sleepless night, and then He carried my cross and bore it like a dad rescuing his daughter from walking the streets. How amazing to see a prostitute become a bride.

The Least of These

2008-06-12T13:15:00.008-05:00

This week I was going to write about an ugly pretty woman, but I felt compelled to post this one, so we'll love on her in a few days. TM

Matt 25:35-45 (NIV) For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

When I see scenes on television of Tsunamis and Earthquakes in faraway places, I shake my head in a moment of empathy and turn the channel to a sitcom. I've got my own problems to deal with like how am I going to pay for all of the crap I've collected on credit? How am I going to fit this or that in my schedule between going to work and going to church and going to the mall or just going? Thank God for TIVO! Wait! Which God? My god.

It's easier to change the channel than it is to figure out how we can be a part of the redemptive process of helping the least of these. I know that some of what comes at us is manipulation, but I do find it interesting that the biggest response of support for such efforts tend to come from the elderly and lower income families. Just ask Bob. No doubt part of the reason is their ability to identify with the hurting and rejected.

My prayer over the past couple of years is that I would recognize and respond to the wooing and call of God in whatever way He desires. I long to discern the Body properly and partake - communion beyond union. In my fastidiousness I find I can be unapproachable and unavailable. I repent.

In my hunger to know and be known I see the sparrows and I know their nest is near the altar of God, and I more precious to Him than they. If I, then they are too. Who? The Hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, and those in the prisons of their own making. But our Jesus came to give life more abundantly to all.

"Do you feel their pain? Has it touched your life? Can you taste the salt in the tears they cry? Do you love them more than the hate that's been? Can you love them back to life again?"

If He can do that for us, then we can certainly find a way to buy a burger for a hungry homeless one, or roll down our car window at a stoplight and hand a crack addict some cash knowing they will use it for their next fix.

Yeah – let that one challenge you a while and see where it takes you. What if that next purchase lands them in jail and they get sober and some righteous child of God visits them in prison and they get saved? Just obey. Just obey.

Listen, recognize, and respond to the "least of these." You might just be rewarded with the virtue of knowing obedience and nothing more. May we decrease and He increase. I’m so glad He rescued me – the least of these.

Stay tuned - next post we're gonna explore the whores so leave the rocks at home.

Daily Grind

2008-06-06T11:26:00.009-05:00

1 Cor 7:17, 23 17 Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

Do you ever feel like a peppercorn in Emeril’s peppermill just waiting to be shredded to little bits of yourself and then thrown into some hot skillet while Father Chef yells “BAM!” and the crowd roars with delight? Or maybe it’s seems more like a dark roasted coffee bean waiting its turn at the local Starbucks to be ground to perfection.

As the brew master tosses you and your friends into the grinder you’re reminded of your previous thought that “it can’t get any worse than this” as you roasted in some hot oven weeks earlier. Now you find yourself being ground to dust and rinsed with boiling lava just for the delight of being served up to others.

Nice lot in life eh? I’ve got to admit, it doesn’t sound like an appealing proposition as I consider the cost of laying my life down for others. It can feel a lot like a food processor on pulse – crush – off – crunch – off – crash – off – frappe – hey!

I’ve worked for the same company for 27 years now. I’m tired. I’ve served faithfully and received a really good paycheck for it with my pension on the horizon. It’s a fair contract I have with my employer and I have no complaints except – I’m tired and depleted.

Vacations don’t seem to restore anymore. Time off is spent doing stuff that I couldn’t get done while at work, or accomplishing on the weekends what the grind had simply stolen. Time off is rarely time down. Time down is tormented by thoughts of lost productivity. Where’s the balance? I struggle to find it like a puzzle piece that just doesn’t quite fit, so I pitch one.

I feel like I want to do something else, something with more umph, impact, or flair. I’m like most people who, I believe deep down, want to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, “most people” don’t realize just how hard that truly is. It takes work, discipline, intentional effort.

With the advent of the T.V. remote, microwave oven, and cordless or cell phones, sitting on ones duff has become our natural posture. It seems the couch or bed has this magnetic force stronger than gravity itself, sucking us from feet to butt in less time than it takes to kick off our shoes.

My natural state is lazy. Emotionally depleted by the end of an easy days work, I have little energy to open mail or talk to my wife or kids. If I’m honest, I just want to escape to Dance with the Stars, or worship the American Idol. Maybe you sit and visit with The Simpson’s or take another trip to The Office.

Whatever the flavor, it is so much easier to feed my soul trash than it is to buffet my body and make my clay conform. I can sometimes find my way to the laptop and be creative in verb and verse, but often the weight of the sin of sloth is more than I can bear.

In a moment of annoyance, and sometimes clarity I write. I collect thoughts electronically and spew frustration across seven lanes of the internet superhighway. I pray. I seek wisdom on what to do and where to go next. Crickets. So I cry. I bitch and moan and flail my arms about like a Joe Pesci wise guy. I work in the yard. I sing. I nap. Then, at some point, like a bolt of lightning and clap of thunder I’m jolted from my slumber.

I offer up the sacrifice of my praise. I consider it all joy and rubbish once again. I take inventory and find the pack rats have been at work, so its time for the holy exterminator to clear the nest of the R.O.U.S. I reach for the promise of new life from His Spirit breathed into me when I am cold, distant, and lost. I inhale and get high on the narcotic of His Good News.

I witness miracles daily. Small ones like a beautiful sunrise where He welcomes me to a new day. Or the sparrows that dart to and fro in my trees; He reminds me his eye is on them, and me. I see the trees dancing in adoration of Him as the wind blows their sways of praise. A child laughs and I am reminded of childlike faith that stresses not. I want that joy back!

I begin to count my blessings and I am encouraged by the thought of legs that work, eyes that see, ears that hear, a tongue that speaks, and a mind that thinks. I give thanks for arms that can hold my wife and kids, and be raised in honor, joy, and adoration of the One and only. I count those blessings over and over and over. I realize for the most part I suck. Then I set that mind on Him like a boundary stone in ancient Israel. I take opposing thoughts captive and punish their disobedience into submission of the reality of the Savior.

The breath of the life of His Presence that makes all things new courses through my lungs and oxygenates my spirit with his “Zoë.” Why can’t I get this right yet? I praise and He inhabits. In His Presence is fullness of Joy. His joy is my strength. Feeble knees strengthened to bow and humbled to rise with the demise of my pride.

So I take hold of that for which He took hold of me and I welcome it – the cross. I hold it in my arms and dance as if it were my lover slow dancing in a warm embrace. I’m reminded why I love to worship: He is worthy.

Instead of letting life turning me into ground salt of the earth, I’m trusting in Him to help build me up in my most holy faith. I look again to Him when melancholy comes calling. She’s a hateful and unforgiving wench but justice and mercy meet with me at the cross.

I take another bite of life knowing the seasoning is perfect. I’m satisfied because it tastes great and is more filling when I walk with Him. Though I’m not excited about the place I am today, I know it’s a season and I know He is teaching me to be content in Him; it is great gain.

Phil 4:12-13 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Anatomy of a Song

2008-06-01T09:39:00.008-05:00

You who dwell in the gardens with friends in attendance, let me hear your voice! Song of Songs 8:13

Most of you that know me know I love to write song lyrics. I am a verbose individual with much to say. That is why I started this blog. However, sometimes it seems I suffer from "Hometown Syndrome." A prophet is not accepted in his "home town." Why is that?

It's pretty simple - people in close proximity see your warts and moles and want to know why the heck someone so flawed has the audacity to "instruct" or speak into the lives others. Speck and plank come to mind. Who is without sin that they should ever do this? Preachers, politicians, and people of all stripes find themselves in this quandary. On his best day, Billy Graham still had a sinful nature that need the attention of the Holy Spirit. I suspect there were days he fell woefully short.

In my quest to communicate the message(s) I feel the Lord would have me share, I start with communion with Him. Lately He has had me in the Song of Solomon. Wow. What a beautiful love story. How awesome it is to be pursued by the Bridegroom in such a way that I blush at His insistence of my beauty.

The description of Him coming to His bride in the middle of the night and knocking on the door, even to the point of breaking and entering (thrust his hand through the latch opening 5:4) is a picture of a lovesick husband longing to be intimate with the one He adores. How awful to be that man without the reciprocal response?

His bride sleeps yet her heart was awake. By the time she rose from her slumber He was gone. She frantically searches for Him throwing all caution to the wind to the point of being beaten by the night watchmen. Still she searches until she finds Him in the garden - the place of rest, of beauty, of communion.

They exchange tender mercies as only captivated lovers can do. His pursuit paid off in the love they share together which transforms to a life shared together. This is where so many relationships stumble. Taking that passion of pursuit and applying it to the daily grind.

This is true in the natural and the spiritual. In the natural, life has a way of beating us up and taking a toll on our passion. We find ourselves just wanting to withdraw to a place of solitude and selfishness if only for a season. I am there. I have been beaten up spiritually by the watchmen of the walls and I just want to lick my wounds. I find that I am angry at them, those that stand with them, and those who don't oppose them. Their damnable "damage control" has damaged me.

I fight the fire hose of bitterness that would extinguish the passionate pursuit of my King. I am saddened by those who know truth yet find a way to capitulate to compromise. They don't like what I say because it holds them accountable. They think it selfish of me to require their response so their silence speaks volumes of their accomplice to sin. They again cry "judge not!" while judging my words and motivations. The irony is rich. They ask "who are you?" Maybe I'm a hometown prophet. Maybe just a guy who cares too much about wolves and sheep.

I have many friends who have been beaten up by the so-called watchmen, yet I am challenged by their response of grace. I vacillate between the desire to rebuke and the need to sing. I will sing. I will sing a song of renewal and hope. I will sing a song of desperation and forgiveness. I will sing a song that demands of me my response to Him - my brother and my friend forever - the Prince of Peace. I want that love-sick passion fanned back into flame - today - right now.

May fire fall down again on the soul of this one who loves passionately, speaks freely, and mourns openly. May the rain of the Holy Spirit reign in my heart as I search for Him in the garden - that place of rest, of beauty, of communion. I journey on. I sing.

My Heart Seeks (REV A.)
Tim Michael 6/1/2008

(V1)
When darkness falls,
when the sun shines,
I sing to you
forever mine.

In fields of green
where rivers flow
I declare my love
always you know

(Chorus)
That I love you
and I need you
I will pursue you
to renew – me.

My hearts seeks to
commune with you
forever Jesus I…
will follow You.

(V2)
When I fall down
like pouring rain
I look to you
to heal my pain

When trouble finds
me once again
I cry to you
forgive my sin

(Bridge)
And I know you will
make my heart still
You carry me
so I can see

(Chorus)
That I love you
and I need you
I will pursue you
to renew – me.

My hearts seeks to
commune with you
forever Jesus I…
will follow You.

(sing out/resolve)

I will follow after you.
Like pouring rain
Wash away my pain,
Renew me here
once again.
I run to You
My heart renewed
Fears melt away
In your Presence I will stay,
and follow after you.
forever Jesus I…
will follow after You.

Mourning the Penis

2008-05-22T23:22:00.014-05:00

That’s right – I used one of the “P” words.

Exod 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

I have had a number of conversations recently about folks in transition from one stage of their life into another. I have a son going from Junior High to High School. I have a daughter who is in her final year of High School. I have another daughter who is just starting her career as a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) and about to pursue her nursing degree. My lovely bride is also looking at long term changes to her career as our nest empties.

I am even contemplating at what my career might look like two presidential terms from now; I will be eligible for retirement. That freaks me out to think in those terms. The Florida recount doesn’t seem that long ago. It’s just plain scary thinking about that transition. It sucks to the high heavens. Well sort of.

If we were meant to stay the same, this creation wouldn’t have seasons, cycles, and cyclones. I thank God for August in February and vice verse. I’m thankful that He didn’t create Stepford communities, but instead revealed diversity in His creation long before it was ever a politically correct corporate buzz word or illegitimate employment model. He utilizes it out of love. We do it seeking justice in the name of mercy while extending neither in our trendy ways.

Speaking of trends, I see one at work in the world that is troubling to me. I suspect it has been this way all along, but it is just now affecting me; so now it counts, now it’s important, now it’s time to fix it. The problem is the “perishable” label we have started to put on men of certain hair color and skin type – namely grey and wrinkled.

What a poignant revelation to see that so many in our society have suffered such labeling prejudice for so long, such as the poor, the minority, the gender, or the disabled. We have tagged so many people as rejects because we haven’t felt their pain. Bill Clinton’s famous campaign line is the mantra the church should now adopt.

As my oldest daughter Whitney was going through her CNA training classes, they had to do their “clinicals” at a nursing home. Part of that training was to help feed and bathe the residents. It also included changing adult diapers of both genders. As she relayed these experiences to me I was so proud of her for loving on those people and encouraging them through such a difficult time in their life, and reinforcing their dignity with grace.

Many have families that never come see them at all. The ones that do must be terribly conflicted knowing that their visitors remind the others of the pain their own families inflict. My heart broke thinking about the disposable mentality our society has placed on people. Grab that thought and hang on to it for a while. This is what Donald Miller referred to as seeing others as extras in our own personal play.

Ladies, forgive the gender specific comments here for a moment. This in no way is intended to slight what you all go through as the seasons of your lives change.

As I observe men around me and relate to those close to my age, I see the fear in their eyes that they are being left behind or forgotten. They see the young men steal the hearts of their daughters and take them away. This may be why some men want boys – revenge. They see younger bucks come into the workplace with energy, ideology, and virility. They talk down to them like grumpy old drill sergeants, but are really just boys inside afraid of the coming change. I suddenly want to go throw a football or baseball around. I should have seen this season coming long before I ran into the metabolic brick wall.

When I was in my late thirties the young men at church gave me the nick-name “pappy.” This was a result of me requiring a substitute during a break in a pick-up basketball game at our men’s retreat. We had just run the full court on about a half-dozen times on “fast-breaks,” approximately 3 of which I watched from center court as they went whizzing by.

As I motioned for a sub, the others asked “what’s the matter ‘pappy’ need some oxygen?” to which I responded some period of time later, “And a walker.” I did get revenge at our last men’s retreat by being part of the 3-on-3 championship team. When asked to join them I said, “Ill pass.” That apparently meant something different to them. In fairness to my other two teammates, they could shoot and it was half-court matches.

I also played softball well into my forties and was not bad. Second-base was the last position I played, but when my inside-the-park home runs became doubles, and when my making a play to first base started requiring a “relay” throw, I knew my time on the diamond was up. I moved on to more age appropriate activities like reading, napping and eating ice cream. With a name like Pappy following me around, I wouldn’t want to pull a hammy doing something too strenuous like walking the dog.

So as guys like me get older, we tend to look back at what we thought were more productive times – our “prime” if you will. This is often where we find our identity and tie it directly to our performance in the work place, on the ballfield, or in the bed. We do this because the world does this, but the instruction of scripture is to not be conformed to the pattern of this world.

C.S. Lewis had a nice admonishment for being dismissive of others in his essay Men without Chests. It was in a little different context, but a portion of it certainly applies here: He said, “…And all the time - such is the tragi-comedy of our situation - we continue to clamor for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more 'drive', or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or 'creativity'.

In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful."

Is it any wonder there is a whole line of pharmaceuticals designed to bring back the function? They know in so doing they restore the soul and lift the spirit (among other things), making one feel fruitful. So the natural or carnal tendency is to sacrifice the valuable on the altar of expedience, or to place value on activity and energy over wisdom.

Let it not be so in the Body of Christ. I’m reminded of the young stud bull who says to the older, “Let’s run down there and have our way with a couple of those heifers!” To which the sage responds, “Let’s walk down there and have our way with ALL of them.” That kind of wisdom is born of experience. That kind of experience is priceless - just ask the heifers.

That may not be as funny as the joke our Creator has played on us all by giving us the energy in our youth to do the stupid things that come to mind, while possessing our wisdom during a season we can no longer physically perform it (unless you are a freak like Old Testament Caleb or George Blanda). Fear not fellas, God ordains destiny and this is His genius on display. His word indicates He is always about trans-generational relationships.

In His infinite wisdom, he has made the two groups codependent on one another. The young ones are taught in scripture to Honor their fathers and mothers which is the first commandment with a promise. The promised-land is found in the wisdom of those who journey before us. Their successes are worthy to repeat as foundations upon which to build, while their failures serve as bridges across troubled waters.

It is the responsibility of the youngsters to listen to instruction and allow themselves to be mentored. This often manifests much later than we hope, but the one yielding to God, will in the end yield to His word. “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (1 Pet 5:5) It is so humbling to get older and sense that time is passing you by.

However, I'm starting to warm to the idea of destiny and legacy, and investing even more in the generation coming up behind us. As they jog by with a pace I cannot match, I turn from sadness to exhortation and encouragement. So let us embrace our role to embrace their time to shine as a city on a hill. Also let us pass the torch to them and fan into flame the passion of their giftings and callings in life. Let us also dispatch with the notion that our calling is any less important than theirs. The one who brings the evangelist to Christ, brings those whom He brings to Christ as well.

Live on. Love on. Journey on.

Tim

Slap Some Mustard On It

2008-05-20T11:40:00.004-05:00

Luke 17:1-6 (NIV) Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

“Increase my faith!” is the eternal cry of the disciple. Who among us could use some more of that? I know I could. Speaking in terms of faith, we often look to appropriate it in times of crisis management, but taken in context here it is about relationship. The King James Version refers to the “things that cause people to sin” in this passage as “offenses.” How often are we “offended” and respond with sin? How many times has that middle finger shot up in traffic (or at least the thought of it) exalting itself above all grace? How many times has our response to someone’s snippy comment been short, terse or even hateful? Or, how many times are we frustrated with another’s sin to the point of our own failure? Dam the pain. Damn that hurts. These days, instead of saying “that’s gonna leave a mark,” I’ve started saying “that’s gonna leave a Luke (17).”

Jesus revealed something to me in these few verses that I think may help in my struggle to deal with others when offended. I have a love hate thing going on with this revelation. I love that the Holy Spirit responded to my request for communion. I hate what it may cost to respond to that revelation appropriately. I thought He said His burden was light? I am amused and amazed at what scripture refers to as “light” here and here. Matters of the spirit are often heavy to the flesh.

So what I learned from this small passage is a large enterprise, a project that took me from the comfort zone to the danger zone. My first thought is that I don’t want to be the person with a millstone around my neck. More importantly, yet selfishly secondarily, I don’t want to be an offense to others, well, most of the time. So the admonition is to watch myself. What I love about Jesus is his tendency toward grace. Notice that in his next breath he encourages us to rebuke, then forgive the one who repents and do so repeatedly.

I literally laughed out loud when I read the disciples’ response. It was as if they were saying, “if you’re going to require me to do that (rebuke and/or forgive), then I’m going to need some more of that (faith). I really understand that there is this hesitancy to do either. We are uncomfortable with rebuke because we know our need for grace. We are disinclined to grace because we know others “need” for judgment. I’m uncomfortable with both, but grace seems easier for some in light of the truth of James 3:2 which says, “We ALL stumble in MANY ways.” So who can stand under that sort of scrutiny? Well, me. I have this unwavering conviction that who better to tell a drunk to quit drinking than say, a drunk? If a crack whore is screaming at her kids to stay off crack she might have perspective on that, hypocrisy notwithstanding.

The most difficult offense for me to bear is the one that is inflicted on those closest to me. My friend Greg, whom I love dearly, says that people don’t offend us we simply choose to pick up the offense and super-glue it to our shoulders. I don’t disagree wholeheartedly, but I also think the offense can creep up on us unsuspectingly and attach itself like leech on Humphrey Bogart. As we slog through the swamps of society’s murky waters, inevitably the life-sucking offense will show up looking for blood. Hopefully we can offer up some of His blood as recipients of His transfusion in our lives. This is not my strength.

Because I tend toward the rebuke Greg has referred to me as the Holy Spirit’s side-kick in the Justice League. This was part of an ongoing discussion which drew out of me what I see as the difference between “offense” and “cause.” I said that I think others feel I’m taking up someone else’s offense when in reality I’m taking up their cause. My example: If a woman is raped, that is the offense. Bringing the rapist to justice becomes the cause. It will take flawed individuals to bring this flawed person to justice for “offending” the flawed victim. The biggest flaw of all would be not pursuing the rapist because of some misguided “judge not” principle and all of the other flaws in the equation. To suspend the activities of the Justice League because of a snag in their spandex would be a travesty in my world. Tim powers activate!

The offense will come, and some will take root just like the mulberry tree. There are some very interesting points to note regarding that type of tree. In my home state of Texas the “fruitless” mulberry is common. Not pleasing to the eye, it can be invasive crowding out lawn grasses, and is known as an undesirable “volunteer.” So many of those qualities apply to the offense, but Jesus said if we have faith as a mustard seed, we can speak to it, uproot it and have it planted (phuteuo derived from phuo) in the sea. What the original language here implies in the term “planted” is for the tree to return to its original seed form from which it germinated. What a lovely picture of the Kingdom of Grace.

Another interesting point is the “speaking” to the tree; isn’t that how most offenses are delivered, via the spoken word? So now we can take the offense that has grown from a seed to a fully matured plant that is deeply rooted in our hearts, and apply our faith by speaking to it (faith comes by hearing). We can uproot the thing that has been blown out of proportion by allowing our faith to grow in its place, and then we transplant the now seed-form offense into an environment in which it cannot grow (the salty sea).

Beloved, we are spoken of in scripture as salt (Matt 5:13) and water/sea (The Revelation 4:6; 19:6). If we submit our offenses to brothers and sisters in the Lord so they can help us get perspective of anything blown out of proportion, then we can put it in its proper place. But, as my buddy Chad puts it “don’t let your meeting become the ‘fellowship of the offended’ or the reason you come together.” We must find the redemptive place and dive deep. The salt of the earth friends input can be the pre-emergent to keep an offense from re-emerging. Sowing the wrong seed in the right salt can bear good fruit from the Son. Then - just add a little mustard to it.

The Wedding Planner

2008-05-07T21:19:00.005-05:00

In his contribution to our continuing conversation about our Savior and the sipping sauce, my buddy Chad made a point about the miracle at the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee when Jesus turned water into wine. That passage is very near and dear to me. The story ranks about #2 on my top-ten list of favorites, right behind Elijah taunting and subsequently beheading the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18).

It is the first passage of which I remember receiving revelation, or a deeper understanding while eating scripture communion with the Lord. So as I share those thoughts, please pardon the 1990’s “faith movement” style of exegesis. These are the things I felt the Lord revealed to me regarding this passage and additional commentary:

John 2:1-11

1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, [3rd day = Day of Resurrection which is when our bridal gown was bought.]

2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. Jesus will come into any circumstance or setting when invited.

3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."
This was not an “invitation” but a declaration of a need. Moms seem to always worry about how something will look, or if someone will be “exposed” or embarrassed. My buddy Greg would shrug his shoulders and send everyone home. I would have gotten some buds together and taken up a collection and went to the market. I see the validity of all of those reactions, but - What would Jesus do? Let’s see…

4 "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come."
Jesus is not obligated to fix the messes we make, but His grace applied usually does. Jesus “timing” is not necessarily tied to our schedule or agendas.

5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
I see this as an act of faith (surrender) by Mary. Did He honor his mother? Was He responding to her faith? Since He only does that which He sees the Father do, perhaps He “saw” the Father doing this at His wedding feast. Something prompted Him to act after implying it wasn’t HIS problem.

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
Six is the number that often represents man or flesh in scripture, and stone the condition of his heart. Earthen vessel is also a depiction of us, dirty and filthy inside with much sediment settled in our hearts from religious traditions/ceremonies, and often we are “used” by others for their benefit, depleting but never giving back.

7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.
They weren’t full, so Jesus said, “just add water.” He will fill us with His living water, and does so fully, which literally changes the properties within us to transform us. That is His new covenant in action.

8 Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so,
I love this picture here of one servant drawing out the goodness of another and taking it to yet a third. That is the beautiful picture of relationship and making disciples. Oh that we would draw out the wine of other storehouses and drink in life from others. He gathers the water of the seas into jars and puts the deep into storehouses. Psalms 33:7; Deep calls to deep…Psalms 42:7; The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out. Proverbs 20:5.

9-11 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Have you ever seen the mischief of this miracle? How about the snickering of the servants as they handed it over to the wedding planner; or the “eew gross” comments of the disciples as they looked on; or the “don’t tell mom, but watch this!” coming from Jesus himself; or the guffaws turning to shock as the master of the banquet sips and praises the wine the servants just handed him? Another interesting conclusion is the implication that the guests drank ‘em dry and had already “had too much” yet Jesus made more???? The earthly bridegroom will get depleted and fall short. The husband of heaven never will.

I think we miss the mark if we consider this miracle about provision instead of transformation. We love the miracles of provision when God meets us in our moment of our need, right? Often the need is a result of a self-inflicted crisis. What Jesus did was to see a need that initially He chose not to address. Who knows why He changed His mind, whether honoring mom or Dad or both? Regardless, it is a beautiful picture of redemption: Taking a religious ceremonial tradition and transforming it into a tool of relational communion and life - covenant.

As I was getting some more input from Rabbi Chad he shared this:

What is wine? It's the "fruit" of the fruit. It's what's produced from the fruit. And wine often symbolizes joy and fullness in the scriptures. Does it make sense that perhaps our wine (joy) comes as a product of Jesus' fruit being produced in our life? Our joy is a byproduct of his fruit in us. Of course the wine comes when the fruit is squeezed. The squeezing is not fun, but there's no wine without it. God never produces fruit in us for the fruit's sake. Fruit is not a trophy or plaque we hang on the wall to be admired..."Look at my fruit."

But as for John 2, there was no squeezing of the fruit to make wine. Just this miraculous wine POOF! Which I think was a "sign" that the kingdom of God was now on the earth. How? Well it usually takes a long, long, long process to make wine...years. A whole lot of work to produce a little bit of wine, but in the kingdom economy a little bit of work produces a whole lot of wine. It's a reversal of Eden's curse where you toil at work and the ground is contrary. In the kingdom, work is fruitful and productive and easy. If it ain't easy it ain't kingdom.

Jesus took the filth, mud, and muck, added His portion to it and turned it into something that can get one drunk, not with the wine of man that can leave you hung-over, but the fullness of the Holy Spirit to help you crossover to life in His Kingdom of Light and Life. He makes all things new. He loves to be invited to our parties and gatherings, and what He brings will always be better than our best. Hopefully we’re not too full of our own stuff to miss out on His contribution.

I'll Have Whatever He's Having...JC

2008-05-04T21:02:00.009-05:00

My bro Chad responded to my WWJDrink blog post with some great wisdom that I knew needed to be shared. Below is the email he sent me in response to the blog. I share these nuggets of GOLD with you all with his blessing. TM

I thought I would chime in to the current discussion. I have this tendency to see scripture as being wholly about Jesus and how he fulfilled all things. I interpret everything accordingly. I believe in "fulfillment theology." For instance: Jesus fulfilled the law; therefore it's no longer necessary. He fulfilled the Sabbath; again no longer necessary. Jesus fulfilled Israel; bada bing! Jesus fulfilled the priesthood; no more need. Temple, ark of the covenant, etc, etc, etc.

Now that being said, I ask the question: Why did Jesus drink wine? And yes of course he drank fully fermented, get-you-drunk wine. And he also apparently drank it quite often...at least enough to garner a reputation. But why did he drink wine? Because he enjoyed it? Possibly, but I don't think that's the reason. I think Jesus drank wine as another sign of fulfillment. He was proving (in yet another way) that he was the fulfillment of Moses.

Moses remember produced "water" for Israel. Jesus came producing something better...wine. No wonder his first recorded miracle is turning water to wine. Also, throughout Scripture, wine was used to describe God's fulness and blessing. What better tool for Jesus to use in order to demonstrate that in him God's fulness was fully and finally revealed? So obviously Jesus didn't find his identity in being a wine drinker (or a miracle worker, or a healer, or a prophet, or a teacher, or a savior). He found his identity in being in relationship with his father.

My point is we often find our identity in our liberties or our restrictions. Unfortunately we try to find our self worth in what we are allowed to do or in what we aren't allowed to do. Whole denominations and religious institutions have been founded on that crap. Paul said he had all the liberty in the world but he didn't find his identity in it. I love liberty, but it doesn't define me. Neither do restrictions. I'm defined by my relationship with Dad. Dad loves me no matter what I do. Which is cool, cause I DO a lot. Which also causes me to hate the whole WWJD idea of godly ethics. Trying to imitate Jesus puts me back on a performance treadmill and out of focus on just "being" with Dad.

But anyway...I'm off track. Jesus found his purpose in doing the will of his father at the perfect time. He didn't do anything of his own accord. Including drink wine. He only drink it at the precise time it would do the most to glorify Dad. Other times he was so caught up doing Dad's will that when they tried to offer him something to eat (and I guess drink) he refused it saying, "my food is to do the will of him who sent me." And that, my dear brother, is where I wish we could get to as the church. Just be a group of broken people who join Dad in being what he's being and doing what he's doing.

We must must must stop finding our identities in externals. Stop living outside to inside. That's a post fall Garden of Eden mentality that says if I eat this fruit (external) I will be fulfilled (internal). Jesus made it possible to live the opposite. If I'm fulfilled (internal) it doesn't make or break me when I enjoy this fruit (external). The fruit/wine/whatever is now put in proper perspective.

So. Should I have a drink cause Jesus did? I don't think so. I CAN have a drink as long as my liberty in drinking it doesn't violate my relationship with Dad. Not simply because Jesus did it. I can eat meat sacrificed to idols (Paul said) because it doesn't violate my relationship with Dad. Some couldn't allow themselves that liberty. But relationships are very subjective aren't they? What would Jesus drink? Whatever glorifies Dad. That's what I think anyway.

Chad

WWJDrink?

2008-05-01T17:20:00.005-05:00

Gal 5:1-6 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

My last post talked about having a beer with Jesus. Again I have no doubt he would sit and sip a draw and talk Dallas Stars with me. I know this to be true because He did so last Monday night. I’m sure a lot of you wonder what He looked like and what He was wearing. On this particular night he ranged from 6-3 to 5-7, 250 to175 pounds; dark brown, red, “dirty blonde,” and grey hair with a shaved head; with and without glasses, wearing jeans, shorts, tee-shirts, flip-flops, sneakers, and boots; and that night, a caucasoid with a variety of facial hair patterns. Something I never knew about him though, is he apparently likes a good cigar. Besides Dr. Gene Scott – whooda thunk it?

On this occasion I was honored to be a part of a gathering of some “salt of the earth” gentlemen at a local tavern. Their recurring event is called Stogies and Stories which is an “element group” from a small church in Bedford , Texas called Fusion-Church. These guys, including the pastor and worship leader, meet to smoke cigars and have a couple of drinks while discussing all things life. It was so refreshing to see Jesus lifted up in a smoke-filled bar; one I was helping fill with said smoke. Look, I don’t smoke, normally. However I couldn’t resist the “temptation” to fire up a stogie and have some friendly fellowship with my salty cigar smokin’ sojourners. I got some great advice from the tobacconist at the cigar shop next door to the tavern, and I was quite pleased with the one I acquired. I will confess I felt really strange buying a lighter, but once the log was lit and our conversation with the King began in earnest, I settled right into the whole scene.

We ordered adult beverages and drank them responsibly. I had one beer – a Miller High Life. It seemed appropriate for the experience and setting. One of the guys had nachos – an order large enough to feed the 5,000. Some others had “crown royal” which I also thought to be quite appropriate. We talked about reaching the lost. We talked about loving people. We talked about spiritual abuse. We talked about an agnostic Christian of all things. We talked about the Dallas Cowboys, Stars, and Mavs. We talked about marriage, divorce, pastoring, teaching, evangelizing, praise and worship, song writing, business partners and cigars. I could sense no topic was off-limits. Then we talked about Him – the 800 pound gorilla in the room named Jesus.

What a specimen! He took over the place like a bowl of salsa at a party – everyone gravitated to Him to get a taste – double-dipping allowed. Yes, even encouraged. We talked about the different ways He manifests. We talked about God doing a new thing in a new generation and how the 20th century model probably won’t look like the 21st century move of God. I’m hopeful it won’t, but He’s God and can do what He wants. We talked about my heartburn with the templates of church and the dead agendas. They let me vent about current crises in my life, and boast of building blocks of the past.

I told them how my wonderful mom with a Nazarene background had not liked a line in I wrote about my believing “Jesus would sit and have a brew with me,” and how I referred to him as my “Suds Sucking Savior.” Disrespectful and dishonoring she thinks, and He too pure to drink alcohol. I have another friend who believes one cannot receive the Holy Spirit if consuming alcohol because of Gabriel’s instructions to Zechariah regarding John the Baptist. I’m pretty sure Jesus had the Holy Spirit and a responsible division of the Word of Truth reveals He drank fermented drink. I am an enigma to my buddy because he knows I am full of the Holy Spirit, and beer, and wine, and margaritas. I hope that his freedom in Christ expands to – well – more freedom in Christ.

I also lamented to them about my experience with religion and denominations that color way inside the lines of the picture of our Savior, who by the way, lived so far outside the lines it offended the laws of nature. I’m so over religion and so in love with Jesus – the Jesus many people refuse to embrace because they traded him for a lower round draft choice. My wife says she is tired of trading one set of chains for another. I love that woman; she could preach. For those of you concerned about those view, please take comfort in the knowledge that the One who began a good work in me WILL carry it on to completion. He’s bigger than your need for others to follow your limited view of Him, and bigger than my need to follow a limitless one.

So onto the debate that leads me to ask this question for today – “What Would Jesus Drink?” I would love to have your responses to that question, whether you think Iced Tea or Tequila, and please tell me why you think He would drink what you are suggesting. And the next time you step into a smoke filled bar, look around and see if there are some strange guys smoking cigars, and laughing or crying in their beer. And remember, that smoke may just be the Glory of the Lord in that place, which can smell offensive to some.

Isa 6:3-4 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

So..what would Jesus drink?

Speaking the Truth in Shove

2008-04-29T18:16:00.005-05:00

I originally wrote this item in February of 2007. I ran across it today and thought it worthy of posting. TM

Eph 4:15-16 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

I’m still working out my salvation with beer and trembling. As I travel this journey of mine with Him, I find it difficult to see Him in a fearful way. I know I should honor, respect, and stand in awe of Him, and I do sort of, but I also see my Jesus in so many other ways. I see him as a High School buddy that would go out and TP someone’s house with me, or eat Sausage and Jalapeno Pizza, and yes, drink a beer with me. I know – “blasphemy!” to so many of you. Just stop it! Please! Drop your sacred cows and step away from them, or I’ll have them slaughtered on my altar of self-indulgence!

Now back to my suds-sucking Savior hangin with his homies.

Matt 11:1919 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." 'But wisdom is proved right by her actions."

I’m so glad He lets me be who I am, and then changes what He needs to on inside of me first before it manifests outwardly for all to see. What an amazing concept. I so want that for my kids. I want to impact them in a way that starts on the inside and moves outward. I know fathers that start on the outside with a belt or paddle, but isn’t there a way THE Father has shown that can take us deeper into the hearts of our kids and change them from the inside out?

That song, From the Inside Out is one that just disassembles my soul into a blubbering pile of clay. Oh to be pliable clay for the Potter’s hands so He can turn me inside out. How I love it when He just shows up down deep in there without knocking first because He knows He’s always welcome there – it’s His home.

What used to pass for authenticity with me was usually just arrogance. John Mc was a friend I met at work. We used to discuss all things political and spiritual every afternoon during our break time. We called it popcorn church because about four or five of us used to sit around the table eating a bag of microwave popcorn and discussing the issues of the day. We became unlikely friends. He called me RX4 which meant Rightwing Radical Religious Republican.

I was definitely a zealot of the conservative kind unwavering in my convictions, be it conservatism or Christianity, but I bristled at the notion I was religious. I was, but denied it nonetheless. He was a wounded Catholic, betrayed by God (so he thought), the Church, and people he loved, and he thought loved him. He had this giant hole that wanted desperately to be filled.

We started going to lunch and our conversations went deeper. He told me of the loss of his mother and how that terribly affected his faith. He cried. So did I. He told me she was a Saint and worthy to be left alone, untouched by anything painful or hurtful. Where was God when she suffered so?

I told him that I think we have it all wrong about God. We blame Him for stuff that goes wrong, and never seem to give Him credit when it goes right. I told him we live in a hostile environment and that the enemy wants to take us all out. Some of our illnesses come from our own hands, some from the generations of procreators before us, and some from our enemy – Satan himself. But let’s not blame God.

As a father, I would never ever put a disease on my child, nor would I kill them for someone else’s good or punishment. How much more will our Heavenly Father give us good things? I could see him thinking and wrestling with the notion that God loved him and his mother, and they could be friends.

He told me the first time he met me, he thought I was an “asshole.” I assured him I was. I still am at times. I drop deuces daily and it stinks! I can be someone who thinks the truth is needed, and speak it in a way that clarifies for all that I’m still in process and in need of grace. I like to say I can sometimes speak the truth in shove. Thank God His arms are longer than mine, and if He chooses to He can shove back. Most times, He just wraps ‘em around me.

I think I’ll go have a brew now and ponder some more the mysteries of the Creator of the Universe having a “thing” for me.

The Freedom to Fail

2008-04-20T21:39:00.006-05:00

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

I have become convinced over the years that many people walk a "defeated" walk because they have this idea that being a Christian is about being "good." Let me remind that scripture teaches us that "None is good, no not one." Might I suggest to the reader a review of Romans chapter 3? Indeed the heart of the believer is to do the will of God, or at least that's our confession, yet we still at times think coming to God is about ritual instead of relationship. Many have embraced the performance and plastic over the reality of the eternal elasticity of the journey. We should expand and contract with the heating and cooling of the kiln of Christ, yet some just crack up.

Many of us are trying to exchange the deposits of the Father for the stocks and bonds of others. I truly believe that He doesn't want to change who we are (personality), but whose we are (relationally). He wants to change how we are who we were made to be. If we are intimately connected to the Father then He will redeem that which is His deposit. It's about letting Him use the fabric with which He's woven us together. If you're burlap, don't try to be silk. If you're an extrovert, don't suddenly become introverted. Be who He made you to be and let Him transform and redeem that into His image and likeness. Don't hear something I'm not saying – if you are a drunk, get sober, and if you're a whore, go and sin no more.

One of the concepts Pops God has me embracing these days, is the "freedom to fail." I mentioned this in an earlier post. It's a lot like when I played baseball. As a boy, I used to take a tennis ball and glove out into the front yard and literally throw it against the bricks for hours, "pitching" to a spot and then subsequently taking "grounders" over and over and over and over again. I didn't do this because I had to, I did it because I loved it - it was part of my fabric. This communion with my gifting did two things: It compounded the joy of it within the discipline of practice, and it created the muscle memory necessary to execute the skills required to play. It is not possible to number the "errors" made in the context of that practice time. Conversely, never could I number the errors it prevented in the game.

This pursuit was a result of my childlike mindset to "imagine" a game played with the holy ghosts of my soul without the intimidation of failure. Practice became a place I could repeatedly fail and still know the love and joy of the game. I never knew the Holy Spirit was such a fan of mine. It wasn't until recently that I understood He was playing beside me and with me on those lonely summer days. I knew the pain of rejection of neighborhood kids, but found the companionship of friends unseen. I didn't really know it at the time, but my Trinitarian teammates surrounded me with the love I needed and knowledge that failure was just another opportunity to succeed.

I'm reminded too, of the times my earthly dad let me pitch to him. What a lovely reminder that even when our peers protest our presence, and our playmates pretend then offend, the Father will always show up to give us what we need. Dad simply played "catch" with me for hours upon hours. How boring is it to just throw a ball back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth? To some it would seem like monotonous menial minuscule misery. To me and my dad, it was a catalyst for communion and construction of relationship and recreation (read re-creation). God is found in the daily details as much as He is the Sunday Spectacular. I'm thankful to see his hand at work in the magnificent and the mundane.

When I was in my mid-twenties I played in a semi-pro baseball league in Fort Worth. It was classified semi-pro because we got paid "prize money" for winning, so let's not glamorize it too much. My positions included short-stop, second base, third base and pitcher, and I was our "lead-off" hitter. For those of you unfamiliar with batting line-ups, the lead-off spot is reserved for someone who, as a batter, is most likely to make contact with the ball and put it in play. This person would not necessarily hit for power, but would usually have a high "on-base" percentage (of their plate appearances). On our team, this person was me. This is not always a coveted reputation when the chips are down.

We were playing in a divisional final trying to secure a spot in the tournament championship. We played well coming into the bottom of the last inning. It was a 1 run game. Our player-manager and my good friend, James Masters, was giving the signals, and was our also third base coach during this time. We had a man on 2nd and 3rd with two outs and I was coming to the plate. A base hit would tie, and most likely win the game.

James called "time-out" and met me halfway down the third base line and said these most encouraging words, "Tim. There is no one else I would rather have at bat in this situation." Wow. Such high praise. His recognition of my skill was only surpassed by my inability to deliver. I struck out. He walked up to me afterward and put his am around me and said, "I still mean that." I was encouraged because I knew there would be other opportunities.

Little did I know opportunity would knock in the very next tournament. As if God were writing a Fairy Tale script, we found ourselves in the semi-final again, and you guessed it, the same scenario played out with me coming to bat with two outs and a chance to tie the game with a base hit. James, in his infinite wisdom, called "time-out" again, and walked down the baseline to greet me with those now immortal words, "Tim. I meant what I said last time, and I still believe in you." All the while I'm thinking, "C'mon James. Don't you think I've already got enough pressure!?!"

His faith was unmoved as I went down 0-2 in the count. As the next pitch whirred in, I took my step and my swing like I had practiced a zillion times. THWAP! That was the sound of the ball hitting the catchers-mitt, not my bat. Ballgame over. I slammed the tip of my bat into the dirt and lashed out at James imploring him to please never tell me that again. He just smiled with crinkled mustache and congratulated the other team.

It wasn't until years later that I understood the heart of James and our heavenly Father working in that situation. We can fail and still be embraced to run the race. We can fail again and again and again, and still be an important part of the team. James was saying the very thing The Father is saying to each of us, "no matter how often you swing and miss, I'm just glad you're on my team, and I know that more often than not, you're going to make contact. Sure you will strike out on occasion, and even at inopportune times, but I still love you and want you to keep stepping up to the plate and giving it a go. Just like the character from the movie Signs, the Father is calling out "Swing away Merrill. Swing away!"

Do you have the freedom to fail? Have you come to terms with your propensity to project an image other than His? When you do, it will make you more flexible in His hands. Our ability to be conformed and be transformed will directly correspond to our willingness to humble ourselves under His mighty hand. Please don't make a dead "work" out of that process and make it a contingency to relate in so doing. Understand it for what it is; an obedient response to His wooing. He continues to call the children to Him and still gets a little miffed when anyone tries to come between them. That's a pretty good picture of a Dad who loves to play catch with his kids.

Chilrens and Villains

2008-04-16T17:58:00.002-05:00

Mark 10:13-16(NIV) People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

I can love and serve a God like that.

The childlike heart is pure. It comes to the table without pre-conceived ideas or self-awareness. It often fails to recognize environment or protocol, but relishes the moment. I think Jesus loves the idea of the innocence that revels without prerequisites and loves without condition. I long for that place – spiritually and geographically. I know I’m headed there in my spirit, and I’m determined to invite others along to share it with me.

Consider for a moment the scene of our Savior in the scripture reference above. In the previous chapter, in Capernaum, Jesus had sat down with the disciples and took a child in His arms and said, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.” Now their subsequent 60ish mile travel across the Jordan into Judea probably took a few days, so when the kids began to boldly approach the Messiah, they had apparently forgotten his admonishment that if anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble they should don the millstone bling.

The disciples may have discerned Jesus was wearied by the Pharisee’s cross examinations and was no doubt was ready to retreat into the house for some down time. As he was visiting with them about divorce and marriage, people started bringing their kids into him to touch and bless them. You see where this is headed right? Completely divorced from His earlier teaching, he has to re-instruct them on the value of being a little child and coming to him. He is never inconvenienced by our coming to Him. Again, He is never NOT home.

Many of these people had no doubt traveled long distances and were probably dirty and stinky from their journey. Even worse, since, as I understand it, pampers had not yet been invented, the likelihood is there were some unpleasant odorous encounters with some of their children. I’m pretty sure the nursery was closed. Scripture paints this beautiful picture of Jesus taking these children in his arms (up close and personal), just as He had done in Capernaum, placing his hands on them, and blessing them. In my mind’s eye, I can see Him blowing raspberries on toddler’s bellies and their laughter and snorts filling the air. I think I actually heard one *poot* from laughing so hard. What a scene, the Creator of the Universe in the house, lovin on kids. I can love and serve a God like that. But can I imitate Him?

I remember an incident when I was a young man in my mid-twenties. I was at my parent’s house with my wife Ally, and my sister Mary Ann, and her oldest son Joshua. I don’t remember the specifics surrounding the visit, but it was probably one of mom’s wonderful home-cooked meals. At some point little Joshua was putting his humanity on display as children will often do. Being the longsuffering self-righteous saint I was, I snapped at him in a very un-Godly way while providing rebuke with a fair amount of attitude and tone. My villainous assault became their momentary prison of pain.

Mary Ann reacted by loading Joshua up in the car and leaving; both now wounded and scarred, and I suspect a little indignant. I felt shame. As I recall we were on the phone within the hour, she explaining my encroachment and defending her son, and I offering my apology and owning my sin. While our relationships were restored, I still feel the sting of my offense even today. Regardless, her parental response was the proper one. It is on us, the community of believers, to not just suffer, but usher the little children unto Him, for such is the Kingdom of God.

The father worked something in me through that encounter. Over the years I have learned (for the most part) to love kids and let them be kids. When I find I’m irritated, it’s usually that a whole bunch of me is in the way. As we live in His Kingdom, it is so important that we give ourselves and others the freedom to fail and the forgiveness that follows. In that situation, my sister did for me what I was unable to do for Joshua in the moment – provide the environment where there is the freedom to fail. I know it is the heart of the Father to let us worship Him and commune in a way that is childlike, bringing palm leaves and shouting Hosanna, running and giggling as giddy kids on Christmas morn.

I think that is why I love Christ’s Mass – I get to celebrate His coming to me, and my coming to Him in a way that is full of surprises and treasures of love. And if I happen to get it wrong occasionally, I rejoice that His love endures throughout all generations. It even embraces the youngest one that is full of spunk and spit. I remember my manic days of immaturity which were followed by days of encounters with purity – the King of Heaven off His throne and in my living room changing my diapers and helping me do laundry. I can love and serve a God like that.

Paper or Plastic?

2008-04-11T12:01:00.001-05:00

When I was 17 years old I went to work for Tom Thumb grocers in Euless, Texas as a “sacker.” The Cullum Companies used to own that chain of stores, and when hiring sackers back then, they would send us to “sacking school” for a day to teach us how NOT to smash the bread. In addition to product integrity, the sacker training class also stressed “safety.” Apparently one of their ace sackers of that era had cost them dearly in the form of a lawsuit.

In our class they told the story of a young man who had the habit of swinging the paper bag to “pop” it open with a rush of forced air. On one such occasion, as he swung the bag and it popped open, a little girl happened to be walking by in the opposite direction of the bag’s flight. At just the right moment, the bag opened and its serrated edge cut her, laying open a gash across her face. Negligence causes wounds and scars.

I was one of the best sackers in our store, only surpassed in speed and efficiency by my buddy Jeff, my best friend from Junior High. He was lightning-quick with the cans, and his product was usually in the bag before the next item hit the counter. He never smashed the bread. I never did either - unintentionally. Coincidentally, we were among the first human beings on the planet to ask the question, “Paper or plastic?” About 6 months or so into my employment, the introduction of the plastic grocery bag had arrived.

The chagrin with which people responded to that now age-old question was a lot like the feeling you get when a doctor says “you’re going to feel a little stick.” You would have thought we were asking them to give away one of their children, although I was convinced some of them would have in order to secure the bag type of their choice. It wasn’t long before opposing camps passionately emerged. In retrospect, I think the “I prefer plastic” or “I prefer paper” T-shirts would have been a big seller. I often wondered why that simple question was so inflammatory to some – “It’s a stupid bag for Pete’s sake! Get over it already!”

As youngsters will often do, we expressed our disdain for others in the “assembly of the afflicted” after work. Throughout the shift we would suffer insult after insult and offense upon offense just because of our lowly state as “bag boys.” I’m reminded of Mel Brooks, Harvey Korman, a bucket, and a coin in History of the World Part I. The condescending attitudes came flowing freely from the lips of every Einstein in Euless that made sure we understood our place in their own personal play.

Our rallying cry at the end of the day was “I hate people!” At an early age, I had learned to personalize and project. I personalized what came from people that didn’t even know me, and projected their offense on the rest of humanity – “They’re all jerks!” I would proclaim.

As I’ve matured, I have come to understand just how much people hate change. It’s our nature to resist it, yet it’s the one thing we can always count on in life. I really believe if we would embrace that idea more readily, our transformation process would be a lot less stressful. Don’t misunderstand, I’m not suggesting all change is good, but I am suggesting that if we will let Him, the Holy Spirit will take the change in our lives and use it for our spiritual growth and benefit. The very concept of transformation demands it, and the process of being conformed into His image ensures it.

Ironically society has come full circle on the issue of grocery bags. The profits of the plastic are now being supplanted by the realization that the organic is better for the environment. There’s something analogous to this within the context of the body of Christ. I’ve been around so many people who are trying to be something they are not. They are trying to carry spiritual food in a plastic vessel. We were made to be organic vessels for a reason. Our Heavenly Dad wants us to have a freshness about our walk that is pure not perfect. Let’s call it the journey of the genuine.

He allows us to decompose and be transformed into the beneficial rather than recycling the simulated. Who wants to be the bag stuffed in a closet until time to transport trash? Paper and parchment put on display the words of truth and life, while the phony simply displays someone else’s counterfeit conscience. My heart longs to house the soul of the sincere rather than the slickness of the synthetic. It cries out for the natural over the non-nutritional. I desire to experience community in the messiness of men who seek to serve God in their vulnerable humanness, rather than the cries of the contrived that imitate the insincere. Give me real and rough over polished plastic any and everyday.

Jesus was real. He was real loving. He was real honest. He was real open. He was real naked. That is the reason I so love the telling of His struggle in Garden of Gethsemane. When God Himself will put His “humanity” on display, then we should be free and encouraged to do the same. There is this frustrated part of me that wants to scream out “Forsake the FAKE!” Actually, there’s another F word that comes to mind that my brittle clay would like to use, but I submit it to the process of conforming to the image of Him who is faithful.

There is no life in the place of plasticity - period. If we can embrace the truth of the mirror, then we can watch the “extreme makeover” up close and personal without the pretense of the pretend. Pastor Doug White once said of the Apostle Paul, “He wore his chains like bracelets.” He walked openly with his loving limp. Brothers and sisters, sport your scars for the beauty marks they are, and forget about the plastic surgery; we are not a masquerade of mannequins but the assembly of saints.

Rom 8:29-31 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Debris of My Heart – A Spring Cleaning

2008-04-02T18:58:00.002-05:00

Isaiah 43:18-21 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

With the symphony of sounds and smells of spring bursting forth like a volcanic eruption of emerging joy, I’m reminded of the beauty of the simple truth that creation itself declares the Glory of God. As the sound of cooing dove and the remix of the mockingbird’s medley fills the air, the wonder of His Majesty in all His majesty saturates my soul. The One who made all of these made you and me, and did so uniquely for His purpose. As He continues to reveal that to me, I am comforted that we don’t need the approval or acceptance of others for it to be accomplished in our lives. Yet if I’m honest with myself, I still find I try to make disciples of me and I’m stung when rejected. I press on to operate in His re-vision of me. Whatever new thing He is doing is painful and precious all at the same time. I know the same applies to you also, so let me encourage you too - press in and press on.

The harshness of winter has subsided and the grand entrance of spring’s fling is announced by March’s roar - almost always a lion and rarely a lamb. Thunderstorms in north-central Texas can be as comforting as they are violent. Sitting at the southern tip of tornado’s alley, we are likely to see plenty of hail and super-cells spawning twisted sisters. Thankfully I’ve only experienced one up close and not so personal. The announcement of a Tornado Watch used to fill me with the conflict of anxiety and excitement, and always followed with a sigh of relief when it was cancelled or expired. Nowadays, I often sleep best to the rumble of thunder, knowing I’m secure in the shelter of our home while the storm rages. Father – my home is You. How fitting it is that in the Masters scheme it takes seasons of storms to bring forth life and new growth and the beauty of flora de amore’. The harshness of the tempest is tempered by the promise of the rainbow and the reservoir of the runoff. The April shower is the investment for the return of the May flower.

Isaiah 44:1-3 "But now listen, O Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen. This is what the LORD says-- he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

As a youngster I remember the yearly exercise of what we called “spring cleaning.” It usually involved washing down the house inside and out. We would take the water hose and spray windows and screens and eaves and sidewalks. Armed with the spray-gun attachment, windex, and washcloths, we attacked the dirty domicile like Katrina on the Superdome. We unleashed our torrent to knock down cobwebs, old mud-dauber nests, and caked on dust blown in from west Texas over the recent months. As the March winds moderated, and the promise of July’s jet-blast looming, we readied ourselves for summer’s vacation and the eventual arrival of family from far away places. We cleaned out closets and cabinets to the point of obsession, but when we were done, it just made me giddy to know everything had a place, and everything was in it. I see the master’s hand at work in that simple principle, so let me remind you – you have a place in the Kingdom of God and He’ll see to it you find it.

I was recently walking down the aisle at work and thinking about how many cesspools I’ve had to traverse so early in this year. Quickened in my spirit that life can deal us a pile of pooh in a moment’s notice, I was challenged by the thought that we can either lament its odor, or broadcast its benefits as fertilizer for the spirit. So as winter fades, I’m brightened by the suspicion that great and wonderful things are about to “spring” forth. As I wash the windows of my soul, I offer up the debris of my heart to clear the clutter of His temple, and I purpose to make room for new growth and His blessings. As this season dawns, I sense an expectation of added new life in Christ and I see the budding in my spirit of flowers becoming fruit. The cold night is thawing and a fresh breeze is blowing through the now open windows of my spiritual house.

Not everyone embraces the storms of change or even the birth of spring. Their spiritual allergies flare up and they go into hiding afraid of the pollination of the precious. The delicate photosynthesis of the Spirit can illumine the dirt therein and cause a fit of sacred sneezing. Eyes will water for sure. I know many who will barricade themselves in isolation and miss the beauty of the butterflies. Instead of application of the organic to feed the garden of their heart, they apply synthetic weed-killers and guard themselves with glyphosates. Rather than accept the benefits of transformation, they fearfully spread the pre-emergent that suffocates the assembly of the soul. I love that the pruning of the dead wood of my tree of life, and the clippings from scalping the lawn of my selfish will are composted and decomposed to make me a fertile seed bed of His love. It is interesting that He sees fit to reintroduce the dung rather than remove it. He redeems my muck and transforms it into marvel. It’s kind of cool that the morning of Jesus’ resurrection Mary mistook Him for the gardener. I think she may have had it right at first sight. Eden is on my mind as the dead of winter is gone and spring has sprung into full bloom.

Tim

Debris in my heart clutters my soul,
Come be a part of making me whole.
Clear my heart with your matchless grace.
I turn back to you here in this place.

Love without end
I find once again
Love without end
Broken me mend.
Love without end
The lost you will send
May I be a friend
and show,
Your love without end.

JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD - Part 2

2008-03-26T18:30:00.004-05:00

For many years I have struggled with this reality. I pray some of you find redeemable principles in the prickly prose that follows. I’ve been assembling this post for weeks. As men and women of God and some as bridesmaids, we must get this right to attend properly to the bride. TM

Jesus the Good Shepherd - Part 2

This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed (Bosko) my lambs." Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care (poimaino) of my sheep." The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed (Bosko) my sheep. John 21:14-18 (NIV)

I was exposed to a teaching on this passage several years ago. After re-reading and re-digesting it, I have reached a slightly different interpretation of the one given at that time. In this passage, Jesus uses two different words in three places to describe Peter’s commission – “Bosko,” “Poimaino,” and “Bosko” again, all translate from the original Greek script to the English “feed.” Deeper examination of this passage reveals something significant to me about that exchange. As I understand it, after reviewing concordances and commentaries, to “Bosko” is to “pasture” or allow the sheep room to graze. Said another way, to offer them a place of rest, comfort, and life, and provide a climate that allows them to prosper and be in health. The Lord is my Shepherd…

It appears that “poimaino” speaks of a more personal relationship like fathering. The shepherd will periodically exercise the discipline of husbandry and examine each sheep head-to-toe to see if there were any blemishes or wounds that needed His attention. He would muster them and pass them through the gate and poimaino them before release back to the pasture. He would hold them in place with his staff as he combed through their coat with his “rod” to analyze their health.

This was a “comfort” to them, knowing the master would carefully (care fully) look after their needs. If wounded he would apply salve with his healing touch. If lice or other external parasites were found, he would administer what is known as backliner, or the “plunge” also known as the dip (think baptism). The shepherd will always have your back. …I have everything I need.

The pastoral heart is to father intimately (up close) and with precision. As this revelation has become clearer my heart mourns for the church at large as Jesus did for Jerusalem in Matt 23:37 …how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. In my own journey I have been exposed to preachers who are not pastors at all. Some are teachers, some are evangelists, some are apostles, and some are prophets. All are convinced they are called, but try to stuff their role into one mold.

They cannot operate effectively as a pastor to shepherd if their gifting is something else. This flies in the face of the traditional view of the traditional church. I believe this is the reason the traditional church continues to have traditional recurring problems. We have traditionally held the one-size-fits-all mentality and expect one man to be all things to all people, and do the job of what scripture teaches the five-fold ministry should be doing. Yet we are perplexed when ministers burn out, or fall from grace, or are ineffective, or even worse, spiritually abuse others. Only Jesus himself could operate effectively in all of those anointings at once. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

This is not to say these roles can’t be filled by a manifestation of grace in a time of need, or on a temporary basis, but God has gifted men to fill each of these roles. We have five fingers on a hand for a reason so if one is missing, our grasp is diminished. I love teachers, but their point of emphasis is instruction not fathering. I love prophets, but they are about revelation not relationship. I love apostles, but their focus is raising shepherds not raising sheep. I love evangelists, but they are more about bringing new sheep into the fold than caring for the ones already there. It is the pastor-shepherd’s call to care for and love on the sheep because that is what he does…He restores my soul.

Jesus warns us about the hired hand, yet the sheep herding business (see church) has gotten quite popular in the last couple of decades, even as true shepherds have become more scarce. As the population of sheep sees rapid growth, mega churches and mega marketers have replaced menial and mundane ministry. Building churches has replaced building the Kingdom of God and THE WAY-Mart super-churches have become the flavor of the day. In such a place you can find just about any Christian commodity you are looking for except a spiritual dad. “Attention Way-Mart shoppers, we have a little lamb at the service center that has been separated from its parents.” In reality, the lost-not-found room would be packed by wayward sheep looking for their fathers. Obviously Jesus has the heart for the “one” and that is why he teaches us to leave the 99 to find the wanderer. It takes intimacy to know one is missing. It takes investment to go after them. It takes involvement to intervene. He leads me in paths of Righteousness…

Let me be clear, many large churches can and do function well to meet the needs of their sheep, while many small churches still miss the mark, so this is simply an observation of trends, not a broad indictment. Jesus The GOOD Shepherd was obviously able to meet the needs of large crowds and revealed that by feeding the five thousand and the four thousand respectively. He also showed us explicitly just how that is done. (See Matthew 14:21; 15:38)

That stated, the trends still point to the church modeling today’s broken families with absent fathers. Without the pastoral presence, the body will be damaged and dysfunctional just like today’s splintered homes. It will simply act as a thermometer of society rather than a thermostat of the community. In those flocks you find disease and discord. The watchmen will readily identify cull ewes as expendable mutton. Make no mistake, in the House of God, no cull exists. We are all made in his image...for His name’s sake.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Pet 5:8) Evangelist R.W. Shambauch used to tell the story of the sheep and the lion. He said the sheep would graze and graze without a care in the world, but when the lion roared their heads would pop up. They wouldn’t look to the direction of the sound of the roar, but they would look to the Shepherd.

If the shepherd was there, they would go back to grazing with the comforting knowledge that he would protect them at all costs. However, if the shepherd was not there they would scatter and run. Today when the lion roars, the sheep have to call the church secretary and schedule a meeting. The pastor and parishioner relationship should never resemble the master and slave, or even the consultant and client, but always the familial. Yeah though I walk through The Valley of the Shadow of Death…

Instead of pastoral shepherds, many churches are full of hired hands passing through in search of their next bigger and better assignment. Worse still are the stray sheepdogs often brought in to help. They may be cute and lovable with some “herding instincts” but not necessarily plugged into the heart of the Good Shepherd or the needs of the sheep. They may have a knack for keeping the flock in formation, or even alerting to danger, but not about fathering and providing a place of life with room to graze and grow.

They didn’t enter through The Gate, but somehow crawled through the railing. They scatter flocks with their manipulation and self-centered agendas and turn local bodies into spiritual brothels by concentrating their power through a controlling spirit. Conflict and injury are often the result, and as the sheep leave, the “good riddance mentality” often ensues which has the overwhelming stench of the crap of border-collies. …I will fear no evil for You are with me.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors (shepherds), and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. (Ephesians 4:12) Being a pastor is not about position but disposition. If one does not have the disposition to father, they are not a “pastor” plain and simple. Jesus has the heart to know and be known - that is the model for the pastor. Fathering from afar creates scars; as a dad, I know this to be true.

During times when I’ve been disconnected or disengaged, without exception my kids will manifest an issue of some sort. I will be of no help if I don’t visit with them and seek to know and be known. Often the solution lies within me and my own personal experiences, so offering myself up to be known by my kids gives them a sense that our struggles are common transcending the generations. Confessing my faults heals me and thee. Your rod and your staff they comfort me.

Jesus paid the price of accessibility and drank the cup of inconvenience. He did this because he loved his sheep. He even paid the price for sheep he didn’t have yet so they could come into his pasture and feed on redemption and drink in life everlasting. He touched lepers. He had bosko with thieves and prostitutes. He hugged children with runny noses and messy drawers. He had poimaino with dirty disciples and he washed their grimy stinky sweaty feet. He combed through the coat of sheep and helped remove bugs and cockle-burrs.

This stands in stark contrast to some preachers who are too busy with exegesis to serve as a human Jesus to a hurting and hungry flock. Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” (1 Thessalonians 2:8) The flock should not be a burden but a blessing, and most certainly “dear” to its shepherd. You prepare a table before me…

Leaving the ninety-nine to find the one again requires proactive deliberate steps that take us beyond our comfort zone and into the battle zone. There we may find conflict and coyotes, but we will also always find Christ – The Good Shepherd - unafraid, unashamed, and unreserved in His passion and compassion for people. He loves us without condition or prerequisite. He showed us His grace and mercy when he loved us with nails and thorns and leather straps and a heavy cross.

He deemed us worthy when He redeemed us with His blood. Greater love has no one than this; that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13) Steve Camp had a great line in a song years ago titled Shake Me to Wake Me. In it he says, “Jesus rose from the grave; we can’t get out of bed.” Ouch! Those are my toes he’s standing on! …You anoint my head with oil and my cup runs over.

If you are a minister of the gospel, I challenge you to take inventory of yourself and your sheep. How much salve have you applied to wounds lately? When your sermons become secondary to you actively serving others, then (and in my opinion only then) you have become a true pastor. If you delegate the task, you relegate your role, and until you lead from your knees, you lead no one. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10). If the revelation is you are not a pastor, stop trying to be one, and get one for the flock and operate as the other finger you are. If you don’t you may become the finger of offense. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

Tim

Diary of a Queen

2008-03-23T21:21:00.004-05:00

Phil 3:1212 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Scott and Lori Dix are our friends. Their daughter Alyssa took her journey home just a few days after her 16th birthday as the result of a car accident. Through this tragedy lives have been transformed and redeemed. I love how the Lord finds a way to bring victory in spite of loss. Scott sent this email less than a week after Alyssa's funeral. Below are the journal entries of a Queen in love with her King. She understood the journey with wisdom well beyond her years, and she pursued it with passion. What a remarkable young lady. I share these with you with Scott's blessing.

Tim

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I was going thru Alyssa's room last night after everyone went to bed and found a journal where she jotted down her thoughts and prayers etc... I think this will inspire you, encourage you and just blow you away. It goes hand in hand with the comments I sent you yesterday Vicki but these are from her mouth. I pulled out some excerpts - these were a little over a year ago until about 11/28/07. Vicki, you can post these on the website as well; this is Alyssa's heart. In his love, Scott

1/10/07 - I want to thank the Lord so much for putting Christian people in my life that I can look up to.......also my dad taught youth tonight about Solomon and how magnets attract metal...our influence.....Lord please help me to have a good influence and for people to look up to me as a Godly Christian woman. Lord please use me whether it is in a different country, camp, Stop team etc... Lord help me to see your direction and will. Also, please be with my youth group that we grow into a student ministry not to be just a group. Help us to give you all the glory Lord just please give me wisdom like you gave Solomon. Lord prepare me for what I will face tomorrow and help my attitude. Lord please lead and guide me with your scripture. Please be with everyone and help remind them and let them know they're not alone. Also, help me to get into my Bible, lead me to certain passages and to take joy in everything, good or bad. Thank you for everyone who has been a good influence on me and bless them and let them know I love them..... let people I influence see Christ in me and that I'm not perfect I just strive to be like Christ. Forgive me for everything I've done today. Thank you, I love you, also like Solomon "fear God and obey his commandments," your humble servant.

1/11/07 - Dear Lord, thank you so much for tonight. I needed that so much I feel so bad Lord I need you so much and I don't tell you often enough. That was amazing Lord, please help me to love you and be on fire for you Lord. Please help me to want your will more than anything, that's all that matters Lord. Lord I can't wait till one day in heaven when I will be able to sit with you on your throne. I'm so amazed that you made everyone and everything and yet that you want to be with me and you will do everything in your power or for anyone for them to know, love and want you. Lord I love you so much I can't say it enough, don't ever let me forget this night. Get me on fire, help me to live like this forever. Let me be a good witness and influence Lord. Help people to know the difference in me Lord. Thank you for everyone in my life that I have good Christian friends and that I am a Christian; I don't know what I'd be without you.......Lord please be with me and Janelle and just speak through us. Lord I know I can change our church and youth group from lukewarm to on fire; it's a big job but I can do it with you. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.".........Lord help me to make a difference......I love the saying how you carry us thru the hard times, you are my strength, my power, rock .....also, that you carry us up on Eagles wings Lord, how majestic is that. Lord please use me as I am here on earth. Also, help me to use what I've learned and give me the right heart and let your will be my will. Do whatever you want with me. I love you, I can't even fathom all that you've done for me and all that you will do for me. Thank you I can't say it enough. Love you. Goodnight Father, Prince of Peace, Omega, Majestic One....Love you. Keep me in your Word, lead me through the narrow path, help me not to stray.

1/13/07 - Lord just please use me as you see fit. Lord we want to see a transformation in our town Lord that only you can make. Help us to be on fire, not to let anything keep us from doing your word. Please help us unite with other churches, other denominations to unite because we all have a common goal. We all have a common belief and purpose.

2/17/07 - Just please bring me back on track, break me down till I stay on track and you use me for your purposes. Lord, I'm just the clay, I'm here to worship, praise, serve and witness about you Lord. Just please help this change our youth group to a youth ministry. Lord help me to stand up and be a leader. Notes from her Blume trip - Look in the right place look to Christ. God is our rock, come with the right heart and attitude....we will always have struggles but we at least have a purpose. Eternal life=abiding communion with God. We're God's instruments, how we are, how he made us......Love is undivided loyalty, faithfulness, obedience. Cherish God more than anything. God is incomprehensible, infinite, immortal, transcendent, supreme divinity, self-existent, self-sufficient, sovereign, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, holy, morally perfect, personal, triune, I Am That I Am, perfect, not bound, all powerful, not conquered.

11/28/07 - Stand up for God, stand up for others. Live for God. (Speaking on book of Hebrews she says) it was worth it to them to not give up even during the hard times, burning crosses....it's not even hard for us like it was for them, why not? Witness, spread God's Word.