My faith is coming to an end.
OK, I admit it right up front. The title is designed to grab some attention, at least in the circles I run in. I'm not rehashing that REM line about losing my religion. I'm thinking about something a guy named Peter said a while back. You remember Peter, the brash bold guy who followed Jesus? One minute loudly proclaiming that he would follow Jesus to the death, the next denying he even knew Him.
If anyone ever looked like he was losing his religion, it was Peter. One of the most vocal followers of the radical Son of Man, Peter was in the spotlight during a famous and very public fall from grace. It was crunch time, and Peter just seemed to throw it all away. Then Jesus is publicly crucified. Peter's faith seemed dead and the One his faith was in was dead too.
Game over. Finis. The End.
But faith, like love and hope, has a life all it's own. True faith, the Bible kind of faith, is not of our own creation or invention. This isn't something we cook up on our own. The Bible teaches that God has provided for us His very own faith, not based on circumstances but that calls things that be not as though they were.
Peter walked through some painful moments, and perhaps he thought he had lost it all. But then something unusual happened. Jesus rose from the grave (I'm not making this stuff up - there were hundreds of eyewitnesses to all this, several of them wrote a book about it.) Peter thought he had come to the end of his faith, but then Jesus showed up and made some mighty promises to Him. Our faith is like a seed, and the Words of Jesus are the life inside the seed. They've found seeds that were thousands of years old, and when they planted them, they grew! ( http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/12/MNGJND7G5T1.DTL)Nobody knows how a seed has life in it, but it does. God's promises are like the life inside the seed of faith.
So Jesus restored Peter. And a humbler and bolder Peter now went forth. Peter came to realize that faith doesn't quit, and it doesn't die easily. That the only real end to faith is not a death, but a goal.
In I Peter 1:9, Peter declares that we are receiving the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls. Faith doesn't stop or end or quit. When I get to Heaven, my faith will be fulfilled. But in this life the only end of my faith is the salvation of my soul. Other translations say it like this: the goal of your faith, the outcome of your faith, "the reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls."
Sometimes it looks dark. Some things we walk through are painful at the time. As followers of Jesus, we don't quit. Our faith is not as fragile as it first seemed. There is an end to our faith, but it is not something lost, it is something gained: The Message translation says it like this: "Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to: total salvation."
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
My Only Best One Forever
It's a special day for me, a special day for the most important person in my life. I have told her many times, through the years, that my highest dream in life is to be a good husband to her. I have seen much of her, been married to her for half her life, and I am still learning her and I am more impressed than ever. She is a beauty and a mystery and everything that God had in mind when He put Adam to sleep. I am totally captivated.
She has a grace that she is not even aware of. She holds herself well, one would think there must be royalty in her blood. I think perhaps it is a deep awareness that she is a daughter of a King. There is a fierceness about her - about her love, about her commitments, when she decides yes there is no no. She has a gift for friendship, she knows when to weep and when to rejoice, she has a sense of timing that is uncanny. She has a gift for motherhood, loving and steering and setting boundaries and giving praise and correction in such a healthy way. Our home is peaceful and orderly and full of shouts of laughter and joy, and it is all because of her. There is healing in her hands, and life in her words, and heaven in her kiss. She is a beautiful woman in every sense of the word.
I love who she is deciding to become - full of grace and strength, exploring her own strengths and desires, setting her course by the Bright and Morning Star and sailing fearlessly forward. She is practical, and she is dreaming dreams. Casting off cares and unholy restraints, fully and freshly putting herself into the Hands of her Creator, launching forth full of faith and adventure. She is not afraid and is stronger than she suspects.
Before we were married I had a dream from Heaven, the Lord showed me a treasure map. The ocean was filled with sunken treasures, riches beyond imagination, just waiting to be brought to the surface. The man that held this map would be a very rich man indeed. I awoke and understood that the Lord was teaching me about my bride-to-be, that my job was to discover the treasure in her and bring it out. If you knew her, you would say I must have been a smashing success. Yes indeed, to date, but there is more. There is so much more. Let me be the friend that helps her become, let my love be the fire that warms her heart and lights her way, let me be the partner that brings all her hidden treasures to light.
She has a grace that she is not even aware of. She holds herself well, one would think there must be royalty in her blood. I think perhaps it is a deep awareness that she is a daughter of a King. There is a fierceness about her - about her love, about her commitments, when she decides yes there is no no. She has a gift for friendship, she knows when to weep and when to rejoice, she has a sense of timing that is uncanny. She has a gift for motherhood, loving and steering and setting boundaries and giving praise and correction in such a healthy way. Our home is peaceful and orderly and full of shouts of laughter and joy, and it is all because of her. There is healing in her hands, and life in her words, and heaven in her kiss. She is a beautiful woman in every sense of the word.
I love who she is deciding to become - full of grace and strength, exploring her own strengths and desires, setting her course by the Bright and Morning Star and sailing fearlessly forward. She is practical, and she is dreaming dreams. Casting off cares and unholy restraints, fully and freshly putting herself into the Hands of her Creator, launching forth full of faith and adventure. She is not afraid and is stronger than she suspects.
Before we were married I had a dream from Heaven, the Lord showed me a treasure map. The ocean was filled with sunken treasures, riches beyond imagination, just waiting to be brought to the surface. The man that held this map would be a very rich man indeed. I awoke and understood that the Lord was teaching me about my bride-to-be, that my job was to discover the treasure in her and bring it out. If you knew her, you would say I must have been a smashing success. Yes indeed, to date, but there is more. There is so much more. Let me be the friend that helps her become, let my love be the fire that warms her heart and lights her way, let me be the partner that brings all her hidden treasures to light.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
PS
As I read over my last entry the other day, one very significant fact jumped out at me. Or rather, did NOT jump out at me because it wasn't there.
The thread of thought was about how different types of governments handle the distribution of resources. How I began thinking about this I don't know.
Perhaps the most significant difference between the Kingdom of God Jesus taught and the various governments of men is not the way these governments distribute resources but rather who is deemed to be the owner of the resources in the first place. After all, the owner truly has the final word on how resources are used.
According to earthly governments, man is the owner. In capitalism, it is the individual. In Communism, it is the state (all the people). In dictatorial governments, it is a single individual or a small group of individuals.
According to the Bible, God is the owner. "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine."
Truly there is no way to have a system that makes everyone happy. According to the Bible, the Lord does as He pleases. Thankfully, the owner is benevolent.
The thread of thought was about how different types of governments handle the distribution of resources. How I began thinking about this I don't know.
Perhaps the most significant difference between the Kingdom of God Jesus taught and the various governments of men is not the way these governments distribute resources but rather who is deemed to be the owner of the resources in the first place. After all, the owner truly has the final word on how resources are used.
According to earthly governments, man is the owner. In capitalism, it is the individual. In Communism, it is the state (all the people). In dictatorial governments, it is a single individual or a small group of individuals.
According to the Bible, God is the owner. "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine."
Truly there is no way to have a system that makes everyone happy. According to the Bible, the Lord does as He pleases. Thankfully, the owner is benevolent.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Good morning Sunshine
This morning is different from most recent mornings - it's wet outside. While parts of the country have been dealing with floods, there are drought conditions in much of the South. At my house it started last evening with a few very large drops. You could almost hear a loud "Splat!" with each drop, and you could almost hear the space between the drops. I am very thankful for the rain, our crepe myrtles were looking droopy and smaller plants were getting stressed. We have water restrictions. The city of Charlotte asked all residents to conserve water, then said that since folks were using less water there was not enough revenue and promptly raised water rates. (Since this isn't a rant n rave blog I'll leave that topic to someone else but must say there is some good material there for that sort of thing. Thank God the government is not involved in the distribution of oxygen!)
So I suppose this morning somehow my mind is on the distribution of things - how water and air and other resources are distributed. If you were in charge of distributing resources, how would you do it? Human nature being what it is, I see no chance of a system that would make everyone happy. Man has tried numerous systems to distribute or redistribute resources. Our country espouses the free market system, with the role of government (as I understand it) being chiefly to see that participants are provided an equal footing and fair chance to participate, and to provide some sort of safety net to keep things from getting too crazy in the process.
I'm painting with a very broad brush here, but am only halfway through my first cup of coffee so bear with me.
In other systems the government has a much more active role - not only setting the rules which participants must observe (then enforcing the rules) but governing to a certain extent the results. At one end of that spectrum is Communism, where (as I understand it) the government's role is to actually own the resources and give or take away whatever amount is deemed necessary to make sure each participant ends up with a more or less equal share of resources. Or perhaps more accurately, whatever share of resources the government determines each person or group should have. Kind of a paternal model where the government takes care of you. At the other end of that spectrum are governments like Saddam Hussein, who establish the rules and enforce the rules (like both democracy and Communism), determine the results (like Communism), but in addition the government itself is the primary beneficiary of the results, with the poeple simply the means of supporting and elevating the government.
I have never thoroughly studied government or political theory and am sure I have oversimplified and missed some very important points. Just wait, it gets worse. Say a little boy has a shiny rock and his friend has a turtle. Under Communism, the government owns both the rock and the turtle and will give ,or withhold, all these resources as best serves the group or state. Under democracy, the government makes sure that neither boy steals from the other and allows the boy to enjoy his shiny rock, or to trade it for the turtle, or to partner together to share his rock and play with the turtle too. Under the warlord type governments, the government takes from both boys, trades the shiny rock for guns to maintain power and eats turtle soup.
Of all the governments of man, democracy seems better able to provide incentives for both individuals and the entire people to experience peace and productivity.
But there is another type of government. Its focus is not on the resources at all, it's focus is on the people, or rather the person. Jesus introduced a new kind of governement, a government of the heart. He taught (as I understand it) that each person should participate respectfully in whatever form of human government he found himself in, but ultimately should be ruled by love. To share your food with him who is hungry, to share your coat with him who is cold. Not some government taking your food away to give to someone else, not some government letting you off scott-free for ignoring the starving. A government that demands the most and enforces the least, allowing each individual to choose their own results by choosing their actions and attitudes.
No wonder Jesus told so many stories and parables about what the Kingdom of God is like, I would never understand something so simple otherwise. His government is understood and followed not so much with the head as with the heart. I am learning to be governed by You.
So I suppose this morning somehow my mind is on the distribution of things - how water and air and other resources are distributed. If you were in charge of distributing resources, how would you do it? Human nature being what it is, I see no chance of a system that would make everyone happy. Man has tried numerous systems to distribute or redistribute resources. Our country espouses the free market system, with the role of government (as I understand it) being chiefly to see that participants are provided an equal footing and fair chance to participate, and to provide some sort of safety net to keep things from getting too crazy in the process.
I'm painting with a very broad brush here, but am only halfway through my first cup of coffee so bear with me.
In other systems the government has a much more active role - not only setting the rules which participants must observe (then enforcing the rules) but governing to a certain extent the results. At one end of that spectrum is Communism, where (as I understand it) the government's role is to actually own the resources and give or take away whatever amount is deemed necessary to make sure each participant ends up with a more or less equal share of resources. Or perhaps more accurately, whatever share of resources the government determines each person or group should have. Kind of a paternal model where the government takes care of you. At the other end of that spectrum are governments like Saddam Hussein, who establish the rules and enforce the rules (like both democracy and Communism), determine the results (like Communism), but in addition the government itself is the primary beneficiary of the results, with the poeple simply the means of supporting and elevating the government.
I have never thoroughly studied government or political theory and am sure I have oversimplified and missed some very important points. Just wait, it gets worse. Say a little boy has a shiny rock and his friend has a turtle. Under Communism, the government owns both the rock and the turtle and will give ,or withhold, all these resources as best serves the group or state. Under democracy, the government makes sure that neither boy steals from the other and allows the boy to enjoy his shiny rock, or to trade it for the turtle, or to partner together to share his rock and play with the turtle too. Under the warlord type governments, the government takes from both boys, trades the shiny rock for guns to maintain power and eats turtle soup.
Of all the governments of man, democracy seems better able to provide incentives for both individuals and the entire people to experience peace and productivity.
But there is another type of government. Its focus is not on the resources at all, it's focus is on the people, or rather the person. Jesus introduced a new kind of governement, a government of the heart. He taught (as I understand it) that each person should participate respectfully in whatever form of human government he found himself in, but ultimately should be ruled by love. To share your food with him who is hungry, to share your coat with him who is cold. Not some government taking your food away to give to someone else, not some government letting you off scott-free for ignoring the starving. A government that demands the most and enforces the least, allowing each individual to choose their own results by choosing their actions and attitudes.
No wonder Jesus told so many stories and parables about what the Kingdom of God is like, I would never understand something so simple otherwise. His government is understood and followed not so much with the head as with the heart. I am learning to be governed by You.
Monday, June 9, 2008
The Secret of Abundance (aka, use it or lose it)
"How do I get abundance?" That seems to be a question we would all like the answer to. To have abundance is to have all your needs met and then some. Some would use abundance selfishly, some unselfishly. That fact in and of itself does not render abundance either good or bad. People can choose to be either generous or selfish whether their state is abundance or lack. Jesus said it is better to give than to receive. In my experience, having the ability to givd is better than being in the place of needing help. Also in my experience, giving results in joy while receiving results in happiness. There is a difference.
In Matthew 25, Jesus' shared the secret of abundance. It is amazing to me when I see things like this in the Word of God, why these must be secrets I'm still not sure, since they are written down and freely available to everyone.
Ready? Here is how to get abundance (according to Jesus): first you have, then you get more. The secret of abundance is to get more. Profound, I know. But the hard part seems to be getting some in the first place, right? Like the old joke about making a million dollars in the stock market? Start off with 2 million.
In Matt. 25:29, Jesus said "Everyone who has will be given more, and he will have abundance." While recently reading these words again, the word everyone seemed to jump off the page at me. EVERYONE. If you have, you will be given more. No exceptions noted - everyone.
Going on, everyone who does NOT have, even what he has will be taken away. (Question: How can they take away what you do not have? Answer: they cannot).
It is not so much a matter of what we have- inheritance from our family, talent we were born with, our last name, etc. And it is not so much a matter of the reasons why we cannot - lack of inheritance from our family, others being more talented, our last name, etc. What matters is what we have, and our attitude to what we have, and what we decide to do with it.
We've all heard the saying "Use it or lose it." According to Jesus, it's true after all. Everyone who has will be given more, and she will have an abundance. And to those who do not have (or choose not to use what they have) it will be taken away. I'm going to use my prayer language, and my body, and my money, and my confession, and my will, and my place of authority in my family and my workplace, and this little blog, to lift Jesus up and seek His will and His Kingdom. I want to hear Him say "Well done. Come and enter into the joy of your master." Don't know a better definition of abundance than that.
In Matthew 25, Jesus' shared the secret of abundance. It is amazing to me when I see things like this in the Word of God, why these must be secrets I'm still not sure, since they are written down and freely available to everyone.
Ready? Here is how to get abundance (according to Jesus): first you have, then you get more. The secret of abundance is to get more. Profound, I know. But the hard part seems to be getting some in the first place, right? Like the old joke about making a million dollars in the stock market? Start off with 2 million.
In Matt. 25:29, Jesus said "Everyone who has will be given more, and he will have abundance." While recently reading these words again, the word everyone seemed to jump off the page at me. EVERYONE. If you have, you will be given more. No exceptions noted - everyone.
Going on, everyone who does NOT have, even what he has will be taken away. (Question: How can they take away what you do not have? Answer: they cannot).
It is not so much a matter of what we have- inheritance from our family, talent we were born with, our last name, etc. And it is not so much a matter of the reasons why we cannot - lack of inheritance from our family, others being more talented, our last name, etc. What matters is what we have, and our attitude to what we have, and what we decide to do with it.
We've all heard the saying "Use it or lose it." According to Jesus, it's true after all. Everyone who has will be given more, and she will have an abundance. And to those who do not have (or choose not to use what they have) it will be taken away. I'm going to use my prayer language, and my body, and my money, and my confession, and my will, and my place of authority in my family and my workplace, and this little blog, to lift Jesus up and seek His will and His Kingdom. I want to hear Him say "Well done. Come and enter into the joy of your master." Don't know a better definition of abundance than that.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Stop asking, start worshipping
Got an e-mail yesterday from a friend.
She has a lot going on, like most everyone I know.
She said the Holy Spirit had spoken to her heart:
"Stop asking, start worshipping."
Sounds like something He'd say.
Think I'm gonna try it myself.
She has a lot going on, like most everyone I know.
She said the Holy Spirit had spoken to her heart:
"Stop asking, start worshipping."
Sounds like something He'd say.
Think I'm gonna try it myself.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Out of the mouth of babes
The other night, as I was putting my almost 3 year old Jack in bed, he noticed a necklace I recently started wearing. "What is that?" he asked, so I took it out of my shirt to show him.
How do we keep our love for the Lord fresh & new? I have been a Christian for 32 years. Over that course of time I have experienced mountaintops and valleys, floods of glory and dry times, times when the sweet presence of the Lord brought tears and times I was so numb I felt nothing at all. Jesus promised "I will never leave you or forsake you," and He never has.
Jesus told the believers in Ephesus, I have seen all your hard work and your commitment to me and to the truth. But you have left your first love. Many years ago the Lord spoke to me from these words in Rev. 2 and showed me how to keep my love for Him fresh and alive. 3 simple steps - remember the height from which you have fallen, repent, and do the things you did at first.
The New Testatment teaches that God has seated us with Him in heavenly places. If we are not depending totally upon Him and His grace, we have fallen from a great height indeed! Step 2- repent. Religion has tried to hijack the word. Its power is in its simplicity - to turn around, to make a change. Step 3- Do the things you did at first.
What did you do at first, when you first truly started living by faith? I became radical for Jesus. I burned music, books, and anything else in my life that did not lift Jesus up. I changed the way I looked, the places I went, and the people I hung out with. The change was so noticeable I was interviewed by my hometown newspaper. In my enthusiasm to tell the world how much Jesus had changed my life I admitted in print to a few things that I afterwards realized the police might want to discuss with me (fortunately, they never followed up on it). Today, there are no books in my house that need to be trashed. Most of my music is praise (with some jazz & U2 in there) and most of my videos are kids videos. But it's really a matter of the heart, isn't it? I still need as much as ever to remember that it is by His grace alone. I still need to repent when I fall short of the mark, and I still need to do what the King James calls the firstdeeds.
A couple of weeks ago I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to get a cross necklace. I haven't worn any jewelry other than my wedding ring in quite a long time. But the Holy Spirit wanted to remind me about the cross. He wanted to remind me of the price Jesus paid for sin, and for me. He wanted to remind me of the promises I made to live for Him, that I am not my own but bought with a price. That my decisions are subject to His claim on my life. So I did one of my firstdeeds and started wearing a cross around my neck.
It is a manly thing, this cross made of nails. Compared to the other pieces in the jewelry case, it looked like an instrument of death. The very nice church lady that sold it to me smiled sweetly and asked "You aren't going to hurt anybody with this are you?" She looked shocked when I replied that I expected to use it in a crucifixion. (My wife punched me in the shoulder even though she knew what I meant.)
It was this cross of nails that my little Jack noticed. So I took it out and told him it is called a cross. He gazed at it a long time then asked, "What does a cross mean?" I have a bachelor's degree in theology, but I didn't need it to answer one of the the most profound and important questions Jack will ever ask. I looked him in the eye and said "It means God loves us." He gazed at it some more before declaring sleepily "It's beautiful."
Jack, my son, I couldn't agree more.
How do we keep our love for the Lord fresh & new? I have been a Christian for 32 years. Over that course of time I have experienced mountaintops and valleys, floods of glory and dry times, times when the sweet presence of the Lord brought tears and times I was so numb I felt nothing at all. Jesus promised "I will never leave you or forsake you," and He never has.
Jesus told the believers in Ephesus, I have seen all your hard work and your commitment to me and to the truth. But you have left your first love. Many years ago the Lord spoke to me from these words in Rev. 2 and showed me how to keep my love for Him fresh and alive. 3 simple steps - remember the height from which you have fallen, repent, and do the things you did at first.
The New Testatment teaches that God has seated us with Him in heavenly places. If we are not depending totally upon Him and His grace, we have fallen from a great height indeed! Step 2- repent. Religion has tried to hijack the word. Its power is in its simplicity - to turn around, to make a change. Step 3- Do the things you did at first.
What did you do at first, when you first truly started living by faith? I became radical for Jesus. I burned music, books, and anything else in my life that did not lift Jesus up. I changed the way I looked, the places I went, and the people I hung out with. The change was so noticeable I was interviewed by my hometown newspaper. In my enthusiasm to tell the world how much Jesus had changed my life I admitted in print to a few things that I afterwards realized the police might want to discuss with me (fortunately, they never followed up on it). Today, there are no books in my house that need to be trashed. Most of my music is praise (with some jazz & U2 in there) and most of my videos are kids videos. But it's really a matter of the heart, isn't it? I still need as much as ever to remember that it is by His grace alone. I still need to repent when I fall short of the mark, and I still need to do what the King James calls the firstdeeds.
A couple of weeks ago I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to get a cross necklace. I haven't worn any jewelry other than my wedding ring in quite a long time. But the Holy Spirit wanted to remind me about the cross. He wanted to remind me of the price Jesus paid for sin, and for me. He wanted to remind me of the promises I made to live for Him, that I am not my own but bought with a price. That my decisions are subject to His claim on my life. So I did one of my firstdeeds and started wearing a cross around my neck.
It is a manly thing, this cross made of nails. Compared to the other pieces in the jewelry case, it looked like an instrument of death. The very nice church lady that sold it to me smiled sweetly and asked "You aren't going to hurt anybody with this are you?" She looked shocked when I replied that I expected to use it in a crucifixion. (My wife punched me in the shoulder even though she knew what I meant.)
It was this cross of nails that my little Jack noticed. So I took it out and told him it is called a cross. He gazed at it a long time then asked, "What does a cross mean?" I have a bachelor's degree in theology, but I didn't need it to answer one of the the most profound and important questions Jack will ever ask. I looked him in the eye and said "It means God loves us." He gazed at it some more before declaring sleepily "It's beautiful."
Jack, my son, I couldn't agree more.
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