Jesus

Be still…

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On Saturday, I rode out on my motorcycle to see my friend Dave, who invited me out to a rental property he and his wife, Dawn, own just east of Charlottesville’s airport. It was a beautiful ride on a beautiful Spring day. I took the back roads and arrived mid-afternoon as he was mowing grass as he does every other week.

I took a tour of his property which includes a total of about 20 acres, part of which is open field fronting on the Rivanna River. It was a gorgeous piece of property. He said loves to come out and spend hours on one of his two mowers, normally with his son, Clark, who helps him. He says, “It gives me a chance to be with my son. Sometimes we just sit on a tree stump and talk and enjoy God’s creation.”

Before I left to head home, we hugged, and then there was a pause. A gentle breeze blew through the trees and there was no noise except the sound of the new leaves rustling as breeze traveled through them.

Pastor Brandon did something unusual at church yesterday. After the worship music portion of the service, he explained that silence is a gift from God, and then he had us sit in silence. He said, “This may be the most spiritual thing you do today.” And as I sat there with my head in my hands, at first I heard people getting settled in their seats. But the longer I sat there, my mind shifted from the here and now to that brief moment Saturday as the breeze blew through the trees. As I sat there, I realized that the brief moment of silence with David was a gift of God. It was a moment of His presence… of His grace… of His love. And as I sat there in siilence, His presence again saturated me and, frankly, I began to cry, overwhelmed by His presence and love.

Silence is a gift from God. It helps us separate from the clamour of this world. It allows us to hear that “still, small voice”. It allows us a chance to experience His presence, His grace and His love.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)

It’s not easy. It’s awkward and uncomfortable. Pastor Brandon broke the silence by saying, “That half hour you just experienced was three minutes.”

It was the best three minutes of the day. It WAS the most spiritual thing of the day yesterday… and the day before.

An Open Invitation…

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“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! (Isaiah 55:1)

“You made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” — Augustine

How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
(Psalm 36:7-9)

“…but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (Jesus in John 4:14)

It is an open, endless invitation to FINALLY find what satisfies. There’s nothing you have to do to prepare. You just come with a willing heart.

God will meet you there.

It’s not by accident that you’re reading this.

No matter your status or situation… Just come.

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
(Psalm 34:8)

I’m praying for you.

Surrendered?

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I attended a church service in June or July of 1996 and I was never the same afterward. I’m ashamed to say that I don’t know my “Re-Birthday”, but I think it was July and it was definitely ’96. I was changed. That was nearly 18 years ago and I think that those who knew me in college and high school would say there’s been a change. I would have been voted “Most Likely to Waste Their Life” because I was getting wasted all the time. It’s an apt description… what a waste! I nearly did waste my life; that is, until 1996.

Thereafter, I hungered for the things of God. I devoured the Bible in six months. I knew what I was supposed to do. I had the knowledge. But the obedience didn’t follow. I fell into sin, and as is the unfortunate case with most Christian failings, the perpetrator is ostracized or shunned. Those that knew about my sin tried to get me to turn away but after a couple of tries, they would have nothing to do with me.

Normally sin will keep you from the desire to seek the things of God, but not so with me. I still hungered and at the same time, was tormented by what Christians would call the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

I discovered grace (again) in February of 1997 when I first attended a new church, Community Fellowship Church of the Nazarene. It felt like a safe place from the very beginning. I had lunch at Captain D’s Restaurant with its pastor, Jeff Griffith, and he showed me the true meaning of love, forgiveness, grace, and restoration. Through his leadership, I found that, incredibly, God could use my failings and brokeness to bring encouragement, healing, and victory to others. And God did, amazingly. I still shake my head in amazement.

I attended that church for 16 years, and being the Type-A personality that I am, served as hard as I could. Looking back, maybe it was God’s burning desire rekindled in me or maybe it was an effort to repay God for His forgiveness and restoration. Maybe it was both. I was constantly trying to do more, learn more, study more, work more, and even surrender more.

My wife and I sadly left that church last August. It was the hardest decision of my Christian life. Looking back after seven months, I’m glad we left. I miss the people terribly, but without leaving, I would have never discovered the liberation I now have after finding another facet of God’s grace.

Every Sunday, Christians hear a message of forgiveness and surrender. They are encouraged to surrender or to surrender more, and some pulpits will even declare a message of trying harder. I can’t remember a message of trying harder, although I know that it’s preached. I’ve preached it. I’ve taught it. “Read more.” “Pray more.” “Serve more,” is the mantra.

As I’ve struggled in my journey of faith, I’ve always thought my problem was that I hadn’t surrendered fully. There must be areas of my life that I haven’t fully turned over to God. I haven’t fully yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit. That must be the problem, I thought. That’s what I’ve been taught and that’s what’s been preached (at least that’s what I thought I heard).

That may be true, but to a Type-A personality and perfectionist like me, surrender then becomes an obsession, and actually becomes – in some crazy way – a work. It becomes something I must do in order to become more like Christ. Maybe that sounds crazy to you. Maybe it sounds strangely familiar.

For me, liberating victory has (again) come through the Gospel. Yes, the Gospel. The Good News.

Knowing that Jesus paid the price for my sins is one thing (and yes, the MAIN THING), but there’s more to it than just that (although that’s great news by itself).

It’s also knowing that…

… because Jesus won, I’m free to lose.
… because Jesus was strong, I’m free to be weak.
… because Jesus was someone, I’m free to be no one.
… because Jesus was the ultimate leader, I’m free and content to be a follower.
… because Jesus was (is) extraordinary, I’m free and content to be ordinary.
… because Jesus succeeded, I am free to fail.
… because “It is finished”, the work is done.

There is such freedom in those words, but there’s more.

I’ve said it before but I have to say it again and again because it is such Good News: There’s nothing I can do to make God love me more and nothing I can do to make God love me less. There is nothing I can do to repay God. There is nothing I can do to curry God’s favor, including surrendering more.*

Surrendering more is something that occurs naturally by getting the statements above the 18 inches from my head down into my heart. Surrendering more is something I don’t have to do; it just happens. As I discover the full revelation of God’s love and grace, it fills me more and more with the things of God. He’s all I think about or want to think about. I see the futility of living any other way and see more and more my need for Him everyday… mostly to save me from ME. It’s still a constant battle, but one that Jesus has already won for me.

I’m not sure if any of this resonates with you, but it is life-changing with me. Isn’t God’s grace truly amazing!?!

 

* to read a better description of this liberation, read any of Tullian Tchividjian’s books, such as One Way Love or Jesus + Nothing = Everything

I thank God for his fresh teaching on the subject.

Embarrassments

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I read an article a few nights ago about Donald Sterling and just had to share some thoughts from it. Donald Sterling, if you fell off the planet in the past two weeks, is the embattled owner of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA basketball team. He made some shocking, deplorable remarks to his girlfriend that were recorded which included that she shouldn’t associate with black people and he wished that she wouldn’t “bring them to his games.” The remarks are appalling, indeed, and everyone, seemingly, has weighed in on this issue – from LeBron James and Michael Jordan to President Obama.

In his article, “Jesus Came for the embarrassments”, Nick Lannon writes:

“It seems to me, though, that there is at least one thing left to say, one thing that I’ve not heard amidst the talking heads, one thing that’s being drowned out by the outrage: I’m not all that different than Donald Sterling.

“To frame our discussion, let’s use a tweet from ESPN.com’s NBA analyst Kevin Pelton, who wrote this on Saturday:

“@kpelton: Important Sterling takeaway: If it’s so hard to get rid of an embarrassing owner, the vetting process better be airtight.

“What Pelton is referring to here is the vetting process done by the NBA and other owners before giving a prospective owner the opportunity to buy into their most exclusive of clubs. There have been many calls for the NBA to ‘force’ Sterling to sell the Clippers, but there doesn’t seem to be any kind of precedent—or legal recourse—to make that happen. Pelton suggests that if kicking an embarrassment out is impossible, the league should make extra sure that they don’t let embarrassments in in the first place.

“Here’s the pertinent fact for our discussion: We are all embarrassments!

“Too often, we think of Christianity as an NBA-like exclusive club from which we’d like to keep potential embarrassments. When someone on the inside has a public ‘fall from grace,’ we wonder aloud to each other if they were ever truly members in the first place. We keep our vetting process airtight, praying that our club avoid embarrassment.

“What if Jesus had sentiments similar to those Pelton expressed? In Part 13 of his Romans sermon series, Pastor Tullian Tchividjian asked this question. ‘If he’s going to be such an embarrassment,’ Jesus might say, ‘I’ve got to make sure my vetting process is airtight.’

“Pastor Tullian continued: ‘Jesus doesn’t vet. He comes to the embarrassments. He comes to you and to me.’ ”

Lannon goes on to add that if Jesus had a “vetting” process to get into the Kingdom, we’d all be in trouble. He says, “We need a God who, in Christ, does not vet. We need a God who knows us to be the needy, prideful, prejudiced, self-glorifying Donald Sterling people that we are, and who comes to us in our need. We need a God who doesn’t wait for us to clean up our act. Donald Sterling has proven himself an enemy of the NBA, and the NBA is going to do all it can to punish him for it. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, was sent on a mission specifically to rescue his enemies (Romans 5:10).

“It might be fair for Donald Sterling to lose his NBA team. That’s for lawyers to decide. We need a God who is better than fair; in fact, a fair god leads inexorably to our destruction. We need a God of mercy. And in Christ, the rescuer of enemies, we have one.”

(Note: Two days ago, Donald Sterling was banned for life from the NBA, fined a hefty amount, and ordered to sell his team. Stay tuned.)

Beauty

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Last night in men’s group, we were talking about what a serving community looks like. After talking about servanthood and working our way around the topic, just before we finished, I asked a guy if he had any thoughts. He had been quiet the entire evening. When he spoke, I was hanging on every word.

He said that it all boils down to seeing the value in whom you serve. It is about assigning more value in those you serve than in yourself. That does not mean self-debasement, because I am valuable, he said. It’s just about valuing others more than yourself.

He went on and spoke about Jesus. Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the One who made all things, and for whom all things exist, considered His creation more valuable than Himself, and humbled Himself as a servant, even unto death on the Cross.

James Bryan Smith, author of The Good and Beautiful Community writes, “It is a matter of seeing the beauty and worth of a person that increases our desire to serve.” He goes on to say, “The core narrative we choose to live by will determine our behavior — my needs first or your needs first.”

We are ALL His creation and are ALL beautiful treasures… the apple of His eye and those worth dying for. James Bryan Smith re-crafted a prayer by Macrina Wiederkehl to say:

“O God, help me see the truth about those I meet today — no matter how beautiful they are.”

Amen.

Worth It

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I can still remember where I was on September 11th, 2001, as I’m sure you can. I remember a lot of things about that day: the stunningly beautiful, clear blue cloudless skies, how I discovered it happened, prayer at church at noon, being glued to the radio at work listening, and then, later, the TV watching in horror and disbelief. It was a day that changed the world, to be sure… and that’s an understatement.

I also can still remember my reaction. Folks were debating how the United States should respond. Strike back immediately, carpet-bombing, plan a war, institute sanctions, etc. There were voices coming from everywhere, and I’m sure the choices that then-President George W. Bush made were excruciatingly tough. We know the decisions that were made and events that ensued. But I wasn’t so sure that was right course.

Don’t get me wrong: I am so thankful for our military men and women who serve selflessly to protect our freedom and way of life around the world. Thousands have paid the ultimate price. Thousands more are still paying the price from the wounds they suffered. “Thank you” is not enough.

It is a hard thing to love. It is especially hard to love those who don’t love me back, or who, in fact, hate me back. It is hard to love those who don’t even say, “Thank you.” It is hard to love those who don’t even pay attention to me. I tend to love only those who love me in return, or at least pay attention to me. Maybe it all boils down to the fact that I tend to love only those who think I’m worth something.

That is how loving others begins: by assigning worth to them. The sobering thought is that they (whoever “they” are) are worth as much as I am. That includes the guy standing by the offramp, looking for a handout. That includes the homeless guy up in Washington D.C. asleep on a park bench with a newspaper over his face. That includes the pedophile I heard about on the 6 o’clock news. And that includes those that inflict damage and horror in my life and in others’ lives, either by the words they say, the things they do, or even the bombs they set off.

Jesus thinks they are worth dying for. Jesus thinks I am worth dying for. Jesus thinks you are worth dying for. They are, I am, and you are treasures to Jesus. That is how love and service begins for me: by trying to develop the eyesight of Jesus and seeing the beauty and worth of the lives around me, and then putting that love into action by serving them. Love isn’t love unless it is accompanied by service.

But I can’t do this. I simply can’t. Without God’s help, that is. And I fail at this. Every. Day. I fail. I need more of Jesus.

The world needs more of Jesus.

(il)Logical

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Have you ever had a deja vu? A feeling you’ve been here before or done this before? I’m sure you have. When I have them, which is very infrequently (more when I was younger), it originates from a dream. I have a dream and then weeks, months, or even years later, I am in that very situation. How is that possible? Gift of prophesy? Maybe, but I don’t think so.

For me, I think that when I have a deja vu, I tap into something eternal inside me. I know that sounds crazy and there’s nothing I can do to prove it and there’s nothing Scriptural to back it up. I’ve had deja vus since I was a kid, so it was way before I’ve had a relationship with God, but how else do you explain it?

Friday night, I saw the movie, “Heaven Is For Real.” The main character, played by Greg Kinnear, is a pastor. I won’t spoil the movie for you, but his life, family, and church are turned upside-down as he tries to explain the unexplainable (and unScriptural). Some things are beyond explanation. I can relate, in a very small way.

But isn’t that what faith is all about? Isn’t faith just trusting God when there’s no explanation possible? Faith is beyond words. Faith is beyond human reasoning and logic. Faith is all about surrender and trust… surrendering my need to know everything and my need to figure it all out and my need to explain it all… and then trusting in the One who has it all figured out and the One who will explain it all one day and the One who does know it all (who created human reasoning and logic!).

A couple of verses come to mind as I type:

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1, NIV84)

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV)

As I posted a couple of days ago, my friend Cindy asked us all on Facebook, “If you had 5 minutes to FaceTime with God, what questions would you ask?” I have loads of questions like, “What’s the purpose of mental retardation, autism, and mental illness?”, for instance. But for now, I’m content not knowing the answers for life’s most pressing questions. And actually, that’s very liberating for me. I don’t have to figure it out.

I will just surrender and trust.

FaceTime with God

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My friend Cindy is a deep thinker and I mean that in the most complimentary way. She always is pondering something meaningful and wonderful about life. She loves God and it shows.

Yesterday she got my wheels turning. In the morning, on Facebook she asked, “If you had five minutes to FaceTime with God, what would you ask Him?” In the early evening, she then posted:

“If I could FaceTime God to ask Him one question, my question to Him would be: What do you see, God, when you look at me?

“If the purpose of Christianity is to transform us into the likeness of His Son, I would want to know how much of Jesus does God see in me.

“I doubt I would like the answer, but I would still ask.”

How much of Jesus does God see in me? What a great question!

But I think she would like the answer. If you have given your life over to Jesus and have accepted His sacrifice for your sins, then I think you would like God’s answer, too.

God loves us so much. He loves us in spite of… us. There’s nothing we can do to change that. You and I are the apple of His eye. (Psalm 17:8) He delights over us with SINGING! (Zephaniah 3:17) I can’t even wrap my head around that! And since we have been clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:27), I believe that when God looks at me and you, Cindy, He sees Jesus. In fact, God’s Word says our life is now hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).

How much of Jesus does God see in me? All of Jesus. Hallelujah!

Good News indeed.

Upside-down

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Listen to this Puritan prayer by Arthur Bennett:

Let me learn by paradox
that the way up is the way down
that to be low is to be high
that the broken heart is the healed heart
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul
that to have nothing is possessing all
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown
that to give is to receive
that the valley is the place of vision.

And I’ll add: Where death brings life.

God’s upside-down Kingdom. Good thoughts to ponder today.

Relevant?

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Do you remember the first time you went to church and you saw the words of the song you were singing on the screen behind the pulpit? Churches began using overhead projectors to help worshippers engage in the service. It was new technology. It was useful and in many cases controversial. Yep, controversial.

Of course, if you are under the age of 40, this is laughable. For you, there was never a time when the words weren’t on a screen. Now, the lighting, projection methods, multimedia presentations all help make the musical portion of a church service more interactive and dynamic. New methods for a new time.

Churches are also trying to be trendy and modern in an effort to reach the unchurched. They seem like they want to fly under the radar, be seeker-sensitive, not wanting to offend. The Cross is disappearing from churches. The invitation to accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is being made less and less. Although the message hasn’t changed, the delivery has. The Church is trying to fit in with the world.

And it’s not just the church; it’s me, too. Everyone wants to fit in and it’s a constant battle to not get drawn into the culture’s way of doing things.

I’m reading two books simultaneously (do you do that too?) and somehow they are talking about the same thing. I didn’t plan it that way, but I don’t think it’s an accident either. One is entitled “Unfashionable” by Tullian Tchividjian and the other is “The Good and Beautiful Community” by James Bryan Smith.

Here’s what Tchividjian says:

“We need to remember that God has established his church as an alternative society, not to compete with or copy this world, but to offer a refreshing alternative to it.”

And Smith says:

“The true narrative is this: Christians are not always different but they ought to be.”

As Christians… as the Church… we are called to be different, attractively peculiar, strangely appealing to the world around us. That’s what Jesus was. After all, who turns the other cheek, goes the extra mile, loves the unlovable, and touch the untouchable? Jesus and his followers… his Church, that’s who.

Tchividjian goes on to say:

“When we forget this (to be unique and different), we inadvertently communicate to our culture that we have nothing unique to offer, nothing deeply spiritual or profoundly transforming. Tragically, this leaves many in our world looking elsewhere for the difference they crave.”

Jesus says, “And I, if and when I am lifted up from the earth on the cross, will draw and attract all men Gentiles as well as Jews to Myself.”(John 12:32, AMP)

Relevant? Hip? There’s really no need. The Savior and his Good News are always relevant and hip because they give hope. The method may change but the Message never does.