Read This

Do just the opposite of what the world calls you to do. Dive deep into a community of people who call themselves a church. Expose your best and worst sides to them. Experience their worst and their best. Love them anyway as they love you. Don't go looking for the "best" this or that. Don't go seeking to have your "needs" met. Find an imperfect place filled with imperfect people and spend the rest of your life trying to meet their needs and the needs of the souls God puts into your path.

And if you're in one of those places right now...

treasure it.

Thank God for it.

You may very well find a place that requires far less of you and presents you with that just right music, just right messages, and just right people to share it with.

But in doing so you are walking away from the HEART of what it means to be a Christian. All those passages like "the last will be first" or "take up your cross daily."

It shouldn't be easy.

It should cost you something of your comfortable life.

Resist.

Dive deep.

----------------------

This post is dedicated to the most real, most raw experience of "church" I have ever known, my beloved New Hope Baptist Church in Valparaiso. You guys are heroes to me and an inspiration every moment you come to mind.

A New Operating System

You're reading the very first devotional I have ever written using the Windows 10 operating system. For the less geeky among us, the operating system (Windows, OSX, Linux) is what makes the computer more than a collection of interesting electronic parts. Valuable those parts may be, but unless some program tells them how to live and how to live together - they're just parts.

I'm kind of liking it. Sure there are some things that I am having to learn, and some things that were in Windows 7 that I'll have to do without, but life is lived forward and I want to be sure that this guy stays up to date and ready for the next challenge.

Well, I'm sitting here thinking that there are some real parallels to what happens when a person begins their journey with Jesus. When they allow God to work within their lives, they receive a new "operating system." Then God uses them to bless other people and to tell everyone who will listen that what He's offering can't be bought for any price, He's already paid that through Jesus. But that in order to use the new operating system, you have to choose to change.

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life— your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life— and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2 Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:1-2 (MSG)

Changed from the inside out. That's how God works within us to change the way we think and make us what we were created to be.

Think about it. Maybe it's time to change your operating system.

Grace and peace to you,

David

Even If No One Else Does

We've been wandering through Romans on Wednesday night for 14 weeks now, and we hit a bump in the road two weeks ago. I knew going in that the passage was going to be tough, because it has some of those words that cause the normal Baptist's ears to tingle - "foreknew" and "predestination." Well, I backed up last week and tried to clear it up, but as I get ready for tonight, I'm still not sure I did. So let me try once more.

Here's the meat of the passage from the Message.

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger?

What you need to know about this passage is this.

Even if you don't believe you can become more like Jesus, even if you can't see any way the old you will ever fade away, even if your family and friends don't believe this Christianity deal is anything more than a passing fad with you and that you will fail...

Even if no one else believes in you...       God does.
In fact, He can already see you changing, already picture you becoming more like Jesus.

29-30God 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.

He knows you can do it. And he's planning on your seeing it through - walking with Him, relying on His Holy Spirit to guide and direct your paths while he is working everything together for your good.

So we shouldn't end this passage doing anything but praising God.

Because God will see us through to completion through the power of His Holy Spirit.

God believes in you, beloved. Even if no one else does.

Grace and peace,

David

Harry Potter and the Hope Eternal

As a young boy, I read every Superman comic I could plead for, later enjoyed the works of Mark Twain, and others who took me to places and times I'll never inhabit - except through their prose.

As a pastor, over the years I have received different responses from people about the Harry Potter series when they found out I had read them all. And at times I've had questions from parents about whether their children should read them - those questions coming not because of what they knew personally about them, but what they had heard.

Well after finishing the last of the Harry Potter series again recently, I'm not sure that as time goes by we might not see theologians treating the books and their author much more kindly. For in this book I found words I have always treasured in the most uncommon places.

When Harry ventures back home to where his parents are buried, he comes across the gravestone of his mentor Dumbledore's mother and sister. The Mother was killed trying to protect the daughter from herself, and later the daughter died too. On the gravestone were these words.

Where your treasure is, there your hearts will be also.

This of course comes from Christ's words in Matthew 19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matt 6:19-21 (NIV)

Then Harry finds himself at the graves of his parents, who both died trying to protect him from an evil wizard, and the reader sees these words on their monument.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Coming again from Scripture - 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 1 Cor 15:24-26 (ESV)

The themes of "the Greater Good", of sacrifice, of selflessness, of laying down your life for your friends run all through this last book. If you cannot see that, it's not that you have read too much fiction.

It's that you have read too little Scripture.

Reading for information isn't enough.

You have to read the Bible with a sense of anticipation - of wonder, relief and amazement that God - this God - the One and Only God - would sacrifice His One and Only Son - for you.

And that through your love for Him, you would lay down your life for your friends - no matter what.

You know you are flawed, but that He is able to use you to change lives for eternity.

And you have to be convinced in your very soul that your life matters to God - that what you do matters. You have a part in the Big Story of God's reconciling the world to Himself.

If you can see that connection with your own life's walk, then it will be easy to spot it wherever it appears in any variation whether explicitly Christian or not - even in fictional books like the Harry Potter series.

I'm grateful for J.K. Rowling's work, and the treasures I found in The Deathly Hallows. But I'm immeasurably more grateful to the God who through the sacrifice of His sinless Son, gave me freedom from guilt and shame, a purpose for living, and the hope of eternal life with Him, when death will be destroyed and love triumphs over all.

Shalom,

David

Hey! Little Help Here!

What do you know about this picture without any doubt whatsoever?

That turtle did not get on that fence post by himself. Someone else had to put him there.



That popped into my admittedly strange mind when I was reading the first of the letters attributed to the apostle Peter. That rough hewn Galilean fisherman is one of my favorite characters in all of Scripture simply because of his so obvious flaws in character. Impulsive, unlearned, rough, crass, and with an opinion of himself that didn't square with who he really was, Peter was as they say all over the South, "a real piece of work." Now for those of you who are not clued into Southern expressions, that one has more to do with how much work is yet to be done than it ever has with what sort of person the "piece of work" is now.

Peter needed work.

A LOT of work.

Oh he had his moments, but there were always others coming down the road that showed everyone just how short of the mark he was. At root, Peter was all about Peter and how things affected him. He's the absolutely last person I would ever expect to write something like this.

8 Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything.
1 Peter 4:8 (MSG)

See, I read that and it made me go "Whoa! How'd he get there?"

I'd say Peter had help getting to that point in his life. He'd been led past "what's in it for me?", and made his way by "what difference does it make?" To "Christ is all. He is enough. He is here- for me -no matter what."

Now, with everything he has within him, he's practically begging his fellow followers of Jesus to make love the end all be all of their lives - of every waking moment.

What changed Peter?

His great failure, and Christ's great forgiving grace.

Peter never forgot just what Jesus had done for him. Have you?

Do you need a touch of God's amazing grace today?

Open your heart, confessing your need and accept His love as help for your soul. Find the freedom that only a life hid in Christ's love can give.

You can't get there without help.

Grace and peace,

David

The Daily Dare

With desperate and hungry people camped all over the church lawn, Jesus turns, then and now, to his followers and speaks what is either a cruel joke or lavish divine humor: "They need not go away; you give them something to eat" (M.t 14:16). The disciples, fully aware that their own resources are not up to the magnitude of the need (Mt 14:17) nonetheless trust that the jest is a divine one and obey Jesus.  Thomas G. Long

Jesus' words "You give them something to eat," are a "divine jest." They are a daily dare. He's saying "I dare you to take me at my word. And see what happens. "

A few years ago, a few New Hope folks began helping out with the "Supper on Saturday" meal distribution. It's a wonderful program that brings together people from the local Methodist mega-church as well as others from other churches in trying to meet the needs of the poor among us all. After that experience, we reasoned that if some were taking 6 meals for two people, then perhaps the need was greater than just on Saturday. We were already cooking meals for anyone who came on Wednesday night, so what's a little more?

You see the picture of the shelves above? That's our pantry for the meals. It looked pretty low when that picture was taken, and it's been lower. But for 4 years, we have cooked, packed, and delivered anywhere from eighty to one-hundred twenty meals every Wednesday night. We've never missed a Wednesday, regardless of weather or holidays.

It's been part of the "daily dare" that is the walk of faith at New Hope.

During the last six years, our church has weathered severe financial hardship, coming out of debt, and dealing with the lack of resources in a way that turned a challenge into a "see what happens" chance to truly see what God can do with our faith. Our treasurer and I on many occasions have shared a private laugh over what our bank balance was, what our obligations were, and how somehow, someway, God always, always, always got us through. One week I shared that we had $1.21 in the bank during a Wednesday night prayer meeting, and my beloved church family burst out in applause. "Look what God did tonight with $1.21" one man said. "We delivered 120 meals" for less than what you could find in the couch cushions."

Now we've done what we could. I've returned to bivocational status, working as a teacher to cut overhead. We're notoriously frugal as a church when it comes to spending on things. But I believe we are notoriously generous when it comes to spending on helping people - wherever they may be. And right now I sense God beginning to move us to do more.

Friend, we're just normal people. There are a lot of ways we could improve. But I don't think we can improve on the call of Jesus to come along and see what He can do with folks who don't have much, but are willing to see what He can do with it.

Shameless plug: If you want to be a part of a church that hasn't forgotten why we're here, and tries very hard to do as much as we can, for as many as we can - come join us at New Hope.  Oh and bring some green beans - we could use them for this week's meal. :)

Forgiving and Forgiveness

It's Sunday after church and we're going out to eat. Now being creatures of habit, there's a certain set of restaurants we'll likely go to. But on this day we decide to try a new one. Arriving at the table, I notice a couple sitting nearby (among a dozen or so others) who used to be members of New Hope that I haven't seen in a long time. Maybe a decade.

They were great members of New Hope, and friends and supporters of what we were doing as a church... until they weren't. And in one of those things that happens far, far too often, they left in a huff. The minister of music quit, so they quit. They left in a cloud of bitterness and vitriol.

It hurt.

But you forgive and focus on the blessing that they were when they were with you, and move on. No wailing and gnashing, no grumbling and blaming. It's a choice you make, and it's the only one that heals the hurt.

So there they were. I walked over and said "Hi," and mentioned in passing that I had just used the lawnmower they had purchased for the church (right before they left) just a few days ago, so they were still being a blessing to us. Then I walked back and enjoyed lunch.

I was conscious of his looking over at us as we ate, and every now and then I smiled back. They finished their meal and he walked over. He's in his upper 80's now, so feeble he walks with a cane, and after greeting everyone else, he turned to me and said, "I'm so sorry if I hurt you and the church."

He continued, taking my hand in a trembling handshake and with tears forming in the corners of his eyes he said, "Please believe me, I didn't mean to hurt you or the church. Please forgive me."

I looked into his eyes and told him he was our brother in Christ and we loved him and his wife. That I knew he would never mean to harm the church. That forgiveness was his before he had even left on that long ago Sunday.

He hadn't let go of my hand, and when he heard that, his grip grew stronger and his eyes grew bright. We hugged and he and his wife left.

You know, one of us had held onto a hurt for over ten years. It apparently had been something that was always there, like a weight that couldn't be laid down. But on a lazy Sunday afternoon, far from any church, unexpected grace showed up.

I LOVE that about our God.

“Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.” 
― Corrie ten Boom

I Forgot Them All

I love this picture!

Maybe it's because I have witnessed this two times from the perspective of the man in the background, feeling the thrill of helping my sons take their first steps toward independence. They are men now, and one has experienced that same thrill.

As they learned to walk, not every one of their attempts was progress. I'm sure there were a lot of times when they sat back down, wobbled into things, or face-planted.

But here's the thing - I cannot remember a single failure. Not a ONE.

Why? Is it age? LOL, no I don't think so. I can remember a lot of moments.

So why can't I remember their failures?

Maybe it's because I've seen them walk. And run. For many years.

You may still be feeling the effects of a failure you had in your Christian faith. It may gnaw at you, rob you of your joy, or make you feel less loved by God.

Please read this carefully.

“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sakeand will never think of them again.: Isaiah 43:25

God doesn't remember those failures. He's the Father who rejoices to see His children living everyday. To see them draw on His strength and His love, facing life's challenges. Sure sometimes we fail, but what does God remember? That we got up and kept following His Son.

So live secure in the knowledge that God LOVES YOU and rejoices to see you living in Him.

Grace and peace,

David

Whenever You Hold A Child

Christmas time always causes me to rummage around in my closet of memories. If you're like me, you've got stuff in there.

For me, back there past the 3rd grade report card I'm still grousing over from one December past, or the memory of the time the heat pump went out when I was 2200 miles away from a freezing Macon, GA, are memories upon memories of Christmases.

Some examples?

One Christmas when I was a child, I received a toy helicopter with a broken windshield. A note affixed read "sorry, dropped off the sleigh. - Santa". I come by my sense of humor genetically, obviously.

Another found Bunny and me walking away from a guitar store, not buying, but selling my guitar to pay for Christmas for the boys. We had smiles on our faces, thinking about how they were going to enjoy the toys. No regrets, only memories of their joy.

Really, most of my memories of Christmas revolve around children. I get excited every year to see the little ones as they begin to anticipate the day's coming. When I read the Christmas story, I remember what it's like to hold a newborn son. Joy floods your soul as you cradle this new life - full of promise, bathed in love, fresh from the arms of God. This time last year we were joyously but anxiously awaiting the birth of Aiden Brann Wilson, our grandson.

So when I read Zachariah's "song" and see this, it touches me.

And you, my child, "Prophet of the Highest,"
will go ahead of the Master to prepare his ways,
77Present the offer of salvation to his people,
the forgiveness of their sins.
78Through the heartfelt mercies of our God,
God's Sunrise will break in upon us,
79Shining on those in the darkness,
those sitting in the shadow of death,
Then showing us the way, one foot at a time,
down the path of peace. Luke 1:77-79

When I visualize this scene, I see a man holding his son. Maybe John was sleeping - you like them to get in that routine early. Or maybe he was looking up at his daddy, fist in his mouth, or with arms outstretched. I can see those dimples on the backs of his hands, and his little bitty toes. A baby, held tight in the arms of love.

Zachariah, unlike most anyone else, had a clear understanding from God directly about what the result of his son's life would be. That passage is God's announcement of just what the life of John the Baptist would mean.

But remember, Zach and Liz couldn't just kick back and not do the work of being John's parents - just the opposite. God's plan for John's life required Zachariah and Elizabeth to do what they only could do, and that is to "train up a child in the way he should go..." Before John could show anyone else the "path of peace", he had to be taught the "way".

Friends, when you hold a child, you are holding God's investment into the future of this world. You are holding one of His masterpieces of creation. Snug within your arms lies the continuation of God's purpose and plan.

That child you hold may be someone like John, who will show many people the way.
That child you hold may be someone like Mary, whose life will be used to change the world forever.

Your part in that isn't just to hold them, but to mold them into people who grow up to live for Jesus. Whenever you do, you are touching generations yet to come with His love.

So this Christmas, why not take time each night to read the Christmas Scriptures? Talk with your kids about God's love for the world expressed through Jesus. Let them pretend they are shepherds, wise men, Joseph and Mary. Let them enter into the wonder and experiences that surround Christ's birth.

Make their memories of Christmas include Jesus.

And give them a hug for Bunny and me.

Adam and Shonda, bring us Aiden please. :)

Chills, then fever

We met tonight in home group to talk about the holiness of God. It was... daunting. We heard a lot from the writings of A.W Tozer.

"God’s holiness is not simply the best we know infinitely bettered. We know nothing like the divine holiness. It stands apart, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible and unattainable… Holy is the way God is. To be holy He does not conform to a standard. He is that standard.”

–A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy. (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1961), pp. 104-105.

We were told to take pictures of what we see of God and hang them on the walls of our mind and our hearts. 

I have some pictures, but from tonight, I have a sound.

The sound of all of us reading the Lord's Prayer (or the Model Prayer if you will) in unison.

There's something about hearing each other.

Kind of like, "Holy, Holy, Holy..." must be in heaven.

It gave me chills. And a burning desire to lead more people into that close a communion. To be there in the midst when it happens.

Thanks to all of you who gathered tonight. And thanks be to God.

First-hand faith example

Before I could finish praying, God had answered. I had come to the church to check our food pantry to see what we could cook for our food ministry this Wednesday. Every week we cook and deliver a 100 or so meals to our neighbors, and another couple of dozen or so for anyone who comes to eat with us at the church. It's something we've done for a couple of years now.

Supplying the needs for it, out of a small congregation like ours, is always a faith-building exercise. But we see people giving and God blessing the work. So I was a little shocked today when I was greeted with a pantry and freezers where there was not enough food to make it happen. I took the picture and headed over to check the mail and open my office for a meeting I had.

I hadn't gone 20 paces. 

I hadn't done more than a "Lord, you know our needs. We're doing this because your Word calls us to reach out in love to "the least of these"... 

I got to the mailbox, and thanked God there were no bills. :) But there was a card from someone in Texas. The name wasn't familiar. I opened the card and read a message from a person Bunny had met online. Bunny had shared about how our smaller church was cooking and delivering meals to our neighbors. She wrote "God moved me to help" and in the envelope was a check for $100.

Friends, before I asked - before I even knew we had a need - God had answered.

This is the God we love and serve at New Hope. 

If church is easy -  If your faith is never tested - If your faith is never validated like that...

You need to come experience faith first-hand at New Hope.

Come and see how GOOD God is.

Unsung heroes

Great day at New Hope!

The frame I was trying to put around the story of Stephen was that of an unsung hero. But now that I think about it, I'm around unsung heroes at New Hope already. Our Child To Child girls came up during announcements and read a card that they received from LOVE146, and amazing ministry working to end slavery. The girls work so hard making crafts they sell for donations to our church family and are reminding us of "the least of these" every time they make an announcement about their next ministry they'll support. So thank you girls. You are heroes. And thank you New Hope for your support.

We began with "Blessed Assurance", moved to "Forever", and finished the worship music with "From the Inside Out." We're so blessed to have a group who love to praise and worship and love old and new.

From there we moved to the message.



The story of Stephen has so many applications for us.

- He steps from the shadows into service.
- He allows the Holy Spirit to direct his actions and his heart.
- He speaks truth to power, but with gentleness and respect when possible, and with directness and uncompromising truth when he must.
- He lifts Jesus high. This is never about Stephen, even though he's the one on trial. Stephen knows that and he makes sure everyone understands that.
- He gives his life away, forgiving those who take it, just like Jesus.

If you're surrendered, if you've given your life over, you never know when you might be called to be a hero.

"When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this - when you die, will YOU be happy when everybody else is crying?" — Tony Campolo

Whose Are You?

"Expedition V. Rhinoplasty", "Fractious S. Lineart", "Stargazing F. Propensity" all know my name. 

I'll open my email inbox and there they are, along with a few of their other brothers and sisters, trying to sell me something I don't want or need. Bunny and Sean get emails like that too, and we've begun comparing names every now and then to see who has the most outrageous.

It didn't take but a couple of those emails to figure out that someone has a computer and a lexicon and knows how to use them. They randomly generate names just so you won't know who is sending them. The names are meaningless. Cool, quirky, but meaningless.

I'm reading through the early New Testament today, sort of hit and miss. The idea was to read only the words of Jesus, and immerse myself in the scenes and people around Him. Thank God for red letter Bibles.

What I found was this - Jesus loved people like no one ever has.

Sure you can read His words to the religious fakes and catch a real edge to His voice - even anger. He did that out of love too - for the people who needed to know God loved them. And in the final week of His life on earth, knowing that His message of love would be rejected by those fakes as God's messages to them had always been - He wept. That's amazing love. 

When I reached the end of my Bible journey, I was in the book of John. It was there I noticed another name that was different. Just like those email names in a way, since the person had a name, but used a phrase to replace it. 

"The one Jesus loved..."

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. John 20:2 (NLT)

What made John stop using his name? Was he doing that to say to others "Jesus loves me best?"

No, I don't believe so. I think John grasped what it means to know that God loves us. I think the love Jesus showed the people around Him convinced John that the greatest thing in the world was to be known as someone Jesus loves.

Well friends, verily verily I tell you the truth, you are one Jesus loves too. And when you love Him back with everything you've got to give, gradually, little by little, you'll learn just How much you are loved. Toward the end of His life, after decades of following in Jesus' way of love, John wrote this. He was still amazed by Jesus' love.

See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! 1 John 3:1 (NLT)

Are you amazed? Try calling yourself "the one Jesus loves." 

That's who you are.

Love, Loaves, and Fishes

"Anyone can be great because anyone can serve." Dr. Martin Luther King

There has never been a group of people that I have loved serving God with more than the people of New Hope Baptist Valparaiso. I'll pass my 14th anniversary soon so you should have figured out that I love this place. We have never been a big church. We did approach average church size a few years ago - well almost - actually our sanctuary won't hold the 150 souls that statistics say is an average church size. But we're not there now.

And yet on any given Wednesday, the people of New Hope will cook, plate and deliver more meals to more people than we have meeting together in worship on Sunday. Are we sitting on a load of other resources that would make it easier? You know, so we could just go to Danny's Fried Chicken and order 105 meals to go? No. There are weeks where the financial statement might show we have less than $20 in the bank. Now understand we have some very faithful people and so we're able to squeak by, barely. But churches that are in that state usually cut ministry. We didn't. We deliver more meals now than we did.

All I can do is praise God.

We have so many needs, but He has counted us worthy of playing a role in his love for "the least of these."

That's exciting. Each week we ask for help in getting what we need to cook the meal, package it, and deliver it. Many times the total cost of supplies is donated completely. Other times the church treasury takes the hit. But for over two years now, every single Wednesday night we have delivered to shut ins and the poor of Valparaiso. There have been times when we were in the "red" overall, but we pressed on, believing that God wanted us to have faith and act on that faith. He has never let us down. It has literally been "loaves and fishes" week after week after week.

I know lots of other churches have more staff, more stuff, and more programs for every slice of life. But what  if God is calling you to come and see how some of His people do more ministry with less, having to trust God for every week's needs? What if you came to a place where you weren't just noticed, but welcomed as part of a family? What if you were to come and join the group of believers at New Hope as we try to love our way through life together? 

Maybe there's a talent you have that's exactly what we need, but you don't get to use it. Maybe there's a ministry God is calling you into, but you need people around you who have real faith in God's calling and equipping.

Come. Walk with us.

If we only understood this

We've been walking through the parable in Luke 15 called "The Prodigal Son" through the lens of Tim Keller, who has renamed it "the Prodigal God." I keep reading and reading about this passage of Scripture - its context, the text through other translations, other commentator's opinions - and reading the text again and again.

It's been profoundly affecting.

Events going on in our nation have helped us see we have more of an elder brother problem than an avalanche of prodigals.

Then we've seen the seeds of rebellion and selfishness in ourselves.

But seeing what the father was willing to do to try and redeem his son...

Oh.

He ran. In fact he out ran the villagers who were coming out to cut his son off permanently. It was a Jewish custom to meet those trying to return home after disgracing the town and dash a clay pot to the ground. The idea was just as that pot was shattered and never to be repaired, the relationships were broken forever.

The father beat them there. In a culture where no man his age would ever run, he ran.

And he'll run to you.

God's love is embarrassingly extravagant.

And it's yours if you'll only accept it.

The Message IS the Messenger

The message of Christ is not Christianity. The message of Christ is Christ. --Gary Amirault

I soon will celebrate some milestone anniversaries in my life. On August 6th, I'll remember a nervous young man who was riding down a dirt road with his beloved in a 1973 Vega notchback ( no pictures of such a car still exist because it was so... Vega) and asked what to that time were the most important words I had ever spoken. "Will you marry me?"

The impact of those words and the answer I received has given my life such a richness of love I can hardly keep from crying. My love, my wife, and through her, my family - my sons and grandson - joy!

Just one month later I will remember the most important words I ever spoke. I walked down an aisle at Bethesda Baptist church, leaving my fiance standing at the pew I had just left, and grabbed the hand of the pastor and told him I wanted to become a Christian. 

I loved that church, that pastor, and those people.

But I wasn't coming to get my name on a roll, or get a vote at the business meetings. I came that day because Jesus Christ had overwhelmed me with His love, convinced me of His standing as Lord and Christ, and convicted me of my sin and need of His forgiveness.

It was His love as expressed through His words. Like these from Eugene Peterson's paraphrase - The Message. 

^28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Jesus. I am a follower of Jesus.  Because He first loved me.

Rest In Joy, Brennan Manning

Brennan Manning passed away yesterday. I already miss him.

For many, the homecoming to heaven is going to be a shock. Most of us are just not acclimated to grace. Think of it like this - a person who grew up in the desert southwest leaves to visit his friend in Atlanta. In August. It's a small connecting flight, one of those where you walk down steps from the plane. The door to the plane opens, and he walks down the stairs into the humidity that is the South in summer. He feels like he's been immersed. His friend greets him warmly - "Welcome to the South!" The traveler is amazed. His friend looks so cool and unmarred by the grip of moisture.

Because he lives there.

Brennan Manning lived in the grip of grace.

Now he's home. I expect he's very comfortable there.

There are so many quotes from his work I could share.

“Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (see Revelation 7:9), I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Kat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me that she could find no other employment to support her two-year-old son. I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last 'trick', whispers the name of the unknown God he learned about in Sunday school.

'But how?' we ask.

Then the voice says, 'They have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'

There they are. There *we* are - the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations, but through it all clung to faith. 

My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace.” 
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

Do you understand it?

What about this?

“The story goes that a public sinner was excommunicated and forbidden entry to the church. He took his woes to God. 'They won't let me in, Lord, because I am a sinner.'

'What are you complaining about?' said God. 'They won't let Me in either.” 
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

Friends, I have absolutely NO use for any church that is not open to sinners reeking of sin. If we won't open to people in need of grace, then we should not be open as a "church" at all.

 - David - a sinner, saved by grace

The Only Prayer God Can't Answer

Is the one you never pray.

What I tried to do yesterday was give the congregation some examples of when Jesus responded to people reaching out with whatever amount of faith that they had. Faith that had holes in it. Faith that was only sure that they had to do something.

I tried to answer some questions that we've left unspoken for fear we might be looked on as less.

And with the last example - the Father who had been let down so many times, who had prayed so many prayers, who had just enough faith to try one more time...

we get honesty - "I do believe, as far as I can, but you are going to have to help me believe like THIS."

Just enough faith to keep asking, to keep hoping, to keep believing that THIS time it would be different.

The only prayer God cannot answer is the one we never ask.

Ask. Seek. Knock.

Don't quit believing.

Hope in the afternoon

There are a lot of stories about Easter. So many ways to look at what happened that day. The one story that jumped out at me this year was one where two people went home after hearing about the events of the morning - still depressed and discouraged. They had heard that others had seen the risen Christ, but they hadn't themselves. It took a visit from Christ to change their hearts.

One of the key takeaways from this passage is that we all have a story we see ourselves in. Everything we've experienced as well as our hopes, dreams, failures, and regrets make up those stories. We see what we can see. But God sees so much more. He can take our story and place it in the context of His Big Story and show us just how He can overcome evil with good. He can explain the Bible in a way that we connect and understand it and are able to see how to live in light of it.

I used this story this morning to illustrate how we can think we know a story, but at times we only know part of it.

A man and a woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about. For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $95,000. He asked her about the contents. "When we were to be married," she said, "my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll."

The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness. "Honey," he said "that explains the doll, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?" "Oh, that?" she said.  "That's the money I made from selling the dolls." - from Lion Brand Yarn's website

He didn't really know, did he?

The people on the Emmaus road didn't know all the story either. All they know was that their hopes were crushed and their future looked dark. They just wanted to go home.

Then Jesus showed up and it all made sense.

We cannot let the world write our story.
We cannot assume that our view of our story is correct.
We have to seek God and enter into a deep and abiding relationship with Him where we can see our lives from His perspective.

Christ changed everything when He paid the price for our sins and provided hope beyond the grave through His resurrection.

So failure is NEVER final.

And we can have our stories rewritten by a loving God.

Let Him.

Living in a Pre-Easter World

We miss it almost every year. We forget that the people we read about in the accounts of the events that make up Easter weekend even had a Saturday filled with nothing more than grief, loss, and crushing doubt. The day before they saw their worst nightmares come true before their eyes. Everything they had given three years of their lives to - the central pivot point to every step they made - was dead and buried.

They shared one of the questions that dog us even today - What now?

Some are paralyzed with grief and become almost catatonic, unable to do anything at all. Loss does that.

You lose a family member that has always "been there for you." Now you and the rest of the family have to figure out how to relate to each other - how to live as a family.

You lose a  job that provided for your family, and gave you satisfaction and a sense of identity - is lost. Now you are dealing with a pack of howling doubts about how you are going to make it, and even whispers asking who are you and are you capable of getting another job. The tightness in your throat, the rumbling in your stomach just won't go away. And your family is looking at your for guidance and for security.

Others make peace with the loss and move on, doing what they believe they should do. Little noted in the accounts of the days of Easter are the women who went shopping on Saturday for the spices they'd use to make sure Jesus' body was prepared to the max. If they couldn't change the past, they'd be found faithful with what they could do.

That's living in a pre-Easter world, isn't it.

Living in the fellowship of suffering.

So let's embrace it for what it can teach us about God and His relationship with those who love Him.

First, let's eliminate the biggest fear. God is not dead, He is not asleep, He isn't pretending not to notice our pains and sorrows. We might think so based on what we've seen happen, but if Easter teaches us anything, it should be that God is always at work - even when we can't see Him.

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Deut 31:6 (NLT) BTW, that's repeated in Hebrews 13 as well.

So God is at work, then what is this experience designed to do? Well, what were we told about faith?
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Heb 11:1 (NLT)

Listen - I've been there and done this too many times. When the storms come, you have to move toward a deeper understanding and practice of your faith. You have to put your fears and doubts behind you and use them as a push to go farther. It's NOT EASY. You might say "I can't do it." And really, many of us can't.

But GOD can.  - your absence of what it took created the perfect opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work in and through you. God showed up BIG TIME that first Easter weekend, and His power is available to you today. 

Resurrection power.

Think about it. Pray about it.

Then go out and live an Easter life no matter what day it is.

Because the believer in Jesus knows life's greatest secret.

It may be Saturday - but Sunday's coming.