Confident Humility

As Lloyd preached a few Sunday mornings ago, his words resonated with the experience I had had the day before. You see, I took a chance at something, I never take chances, and through my story you will see that I don’t actually believe in chance. I entered a contest and attempted to win a new car.

I was standing in the parking lot of a car dealership in Phoenix for three hours. I was by myself, well not quite true because one of our family’s really good friends was in the cow suit, but I didn’t really hang with him much because he was kind of busy. Okay, I digress. I was standing there for many hours waiting for “chance” to play out. I was one of 105 people called to come to the event in which each person would have an opportunity to try and start a new Kia Sorento.
Out of those 105 people, only 66 showed up and put their name in the hat to win the car. There were 66 keys placed into a large jar. Each contestant was given a raffle ticket when they arrived. Half way through the event, the raffle ticket numbers were called, determining the order in which we would choose our key. As each raffle number was called, I continued to wait. The first twenty were chosen, and I prayed, “Lord, that is okay there are a lot of keys and I don’t think being one of the first twenty is necessarily a good thing.”

But when the numbers reached forty and I still didn’t have a place in line, well I was a bit more discouraged. I looked around, knowing that my God leaves nothing to chance, that if He wanted to give me that new car He would no matter my number in line. He is the God who even controls the outcome of a dice roll, right, so He was in the drawing of the raffle numbers too. I was becoming discouraged because I was pretty sure He was saying “No” to the new car.

I looked around knowing everyone had at least whispered a prayer to win the car, and I began to consider those around me who probably needed the car more than I did. Some people had several kids, others were young, just staring out, and one guy was in the military, just back from basic training. All in more need than I was, but that is when the knowledge of God’s love for us, for me, really hit my heart.

At that moment, when I was comparing myself and my value or worthiness to all those around me, I was filled with utter peace and a quiet joy. I was so thankful that salvation isn’t a contest. It is a free gift and there isn’t just one shot to win it either. Every single one of us is at the same level of “need”. The amount of money we have does not lessen our need for Jesus, actually according to Jesus, it might increase our need. But God doesn’t look down from heaven and say, “Okay, that one is worthy, and that one isn’t. That one really needs Me, but that one doesn’t.” He doesn’t roll the dice and say, “You’re in, and you’re out.”

Instead, He says, “I love the WORLD.” He loves every single one of us, and wishes for NONE to perish. Isn’t that amazing?!? I don’t even think we can comprehend His ability to see us for who we are, who He made us to be without comparing us to anyone else. We might have a little bit of that kind of love toward our kids, but in our humanness, we still look around at others and contrast our kid’s strengths and weaknesses with others. But our Father doesn’t put us into categories or groupings like that. He loves us…neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, but all are one in Christ.

So, when Lloyd preached that God does not just love us, that He likes us, I thought back to the day before and knew that was totally true. He likes us so much He wants a relationship with us no matter who we are. It doesn’t matter what we wear, what we drive, where we live, what we look like, how we speak, or even the sinfulness of our hearts. He wants to KNOW us! He wants to spend time with us. He likes us.

It is very possible that most of the people at the event last Saturday were Christians, because it was a KLOVE and Chick-Fil-A sponsored event, so it wasn’t like anyone had a leg up on anyone else, an in with the “Big Guy”. We were all there because He had chosen us to be, and when I was chosen 61st in a group of 66, I knew if He wanted to, He could give me the right key to start the car. He delighted in all of us that day, and probably heard from a lot of us, more than He has in a while. So, when I wasn’t chosen, and found out number 31 was the number of the day, I was okay with that, because I found out, through the three hours of time that at first felt wasted, a new aspect in my relationship with my Father.

Why was number 31 chosen that day? I don’t know. I don’t know if her need was greater, if she needed a miracle in her life to strengthen her faith, or if she simply needed a new car, but what I do know is that my Father doesn’t love me any less because He didn’t give me the car.

I can live my life with a confident knowledge that I am loved, and if any gift is worth all others, it is the gift of love. Because I am loved, I can freely love others. We can walk through our lives with confident humility, loving as well as liking others because our Jesus first loved us.

Light in the Darkness

Our world seems to live every day in the dark. There is a search for meaning, hope, a hero in the hearts of the people all around us, and sadly a few have given up and are willing to exist in the darkness, not even trying to find a way out.

It is into this same kind of culture that the Light burst forth 2000 years ago. How bright the light of Christ appears in such a dark world. The darkness that we now live in is the perfect place to bring forth the Light.

Take heart my friends, we are the hope. It is to us that Jesus gave the great commission. God into ALL the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and I am with you ALWAYS even to the end of the age.

Jesus totally knew that Twilight would claim the hearts of His daughters; that movies like Transformers would present lustful images to His sons taking them to places of desire they should not be taken to; that the youngest among us would be fed a line of hopelessness from a movie about Wild Things.

It is into this age that He chose for you and me to live, and it is those of us who hold the name Christian that He chose to bring the light into the darkness. Don’t get me wrong, we are sooooo flying upside down, but we have the knowledge that our Savior lives and that He is at work all around us.

Paul experienced life just like we do at times. When he walked into one of the most immoral city in the Roman Empire, the city of Corinth, the Bible says that he entered with fear and trembling. Now this was not a metaphor for how he kind of felt inside. No, Paul was physically shaking when he entered the city gates. He was all alone at the time. Silas and Timothy were still hanging out in Berea, and Paul had just left Athens, failing to see the Spirit move among the people of that great city even after he delivered one of his most eloquent messages.

Paul felt rather useless when he entered Corinth, but he did something that a lot of us DON’T do when we feel we have failed. He surrendered his life fully to Christ, to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. No too often, when we feel that God has not used us, we withdraw, go into a hole, take our toys and go home. But not Paul. He sought more of Jesus and kept going, not worrying about the result.

Corinth was the home of the cult of Aphrodite, the Greek god of love and lust, because of this the city was filled with sexual immorality. One of the ways that the Greeks worshipped at the temple of certain gods was through temple prostitution. It was into a very dark world, filled with immorality and idolatry, Paul walked into when he entered the gates of Corinth. Yet, through his faithful preaching and teaching and that of other men of God, the city was forever changed as the Light of Christ entered its streets.

Every day we have the chance to walk into Corinth. Kids are put in our paths who think that salvation means picking up the trash in the neighborhood to help save the planet. They need to know that work is good, but it isn’t the answer to eternity. They need to be loved for who they are, and shown Jesus.

There are teenager girls dying to talk to us about how wonderful Edward is, so we need to engage them. We need to say, “Ya, Edward’s cool, but he isn’t real, and even if he were his salvation is death, but there is someone so much more wonderful, who loves you and defeated death. Jesus is the answer to all your heart’s desire.”

There are young men so captivated by the images on a screen, that they live lives no different from those who once worshiped at the altar of Aphrodite. They can't have a real relationship with a woman because they have been made to feel less than as men. These young men need to experience the love of God, and then their lives can be saved.

The world seems so dark at times that I just want to keep the doors locked. I don’t want to be faithful to anyone but my own little family, to keep it safe from all the wrong in our culture, but that is not how we are suppose to live. We are to be lights in the darkness, to stand up for the innocent, to share the love of Jesus in the smallest way to every person we meet, and who knows, that Light might hit just one person's heart and drive the darkness out! So, if you are sad about what is going on all around us, know that He has chosen you for just this moment in time. Take heart, He has overcome the world.

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart!

I have OVERCOME the World.

John 16:33

Flying Upside Down

A whole generation of girls believes the greatest men of our day, are a 90 year old vampire, who looks nineteen and a teenage werewolf. Girls (and not just girls) swoon at the thought of knowing men like them. They have no repulsion toward the bloodletting that one of the characters indulges in, nor do they recoil at the idea of a wolf sleeping with a woman. Their hearts throb in anticipation as a vampire sneaks into the room of a girl their own age every night without anyone knowing, and they don’t even seem a little bothered by the werewolves “imprinting” on little girls.

Our world seems to be flying upside down, as Dallas Willard pointed out in his book The Divine Conspiracy. And the sad thing is that the culture doesn’t even care, because there is not right side up. There is an emptiness, and a searching among us. Yet we are looking and searching in the dark, finding the darkest things to cling onto for survival, longing for some supernatural being to save us from our mundane existence and add excitement to our lives. Thing is, that Supernatural Being died and rose again 2000 years ago to save us, yet we ignore Him in favor of the "undead".

Funny, we are even willing to embrace someone else’s vision to gain our own hope of salvation. That is right, Stephanie Meyer had a dream about a vampire that led her to write the Twilight series, and through that dream came T-shirts, and discussion groups, and pilgrimages to the small town of Forks in Washington State.

At least in the pages of the Twilight books, there is the hope of some sort of redemption. One that is seriously misguided, with eternal damnation as the end result, if by some strange happening death might actually take a vampire’s “life”, but still it is there.

Sadly, I have discovered that there is a part of the world that does not even have a false savior to give them hope. Part of the world is living in such utter darkness that they don’t even believe that there is a way out of the bleakness of human existence. They visit a place called Where the Wild Things Are, and discover there is no redeemer, there is no better tomorrow, there is only pain and sorrow.

If you are not familiar with Where the Wild Things Are, it is a very short children’s book, about a boy who visits an island inhabited by fantastic creatures called the “Wild Things”. That said the short children’s book has recently been transformed into a motion picture, in which a boy filled with anger and rage flees to the Wild Things, and discovers that they are just as angry and destructive as the place of pain that fills his own heart. He promises them that he will be their king and save them from sadness and pain with his invisible shield, but in the end, they discover that he is a fraud and all their hope for happiness is dashed when he fails to save them from themselves. The boy returns home to his own mother, his own family, with the simple words spoke to or by one of the unhappy Wild Things, “It’s hard to be a family.”

There is no redemption just the reality of the joyless, hopelessness of life to endure until death. That, in the end, is the takeaway the movie leaves the audience. I left the theater utterly depressed, thankful that the sun was out in all of its Arizona glory, and that the Son of God reigns in all of His.

I have always told my children that no matter what story, what movie, what book, or play, that I can find Jesus in it in some aspect or another. But I told them that I was wrong. There was NO redeemer in Where the Wild Things Are. When the Son is absent, then too is His light and all that is left is darkness.

When a vampire is the hero of the young, and a movie for kids is filled with so much “realism” that they leave the theaters in quiet contemplation, we know we are flying upside down, about to take a nosedive into the earth.

The postmodern age looks to darkness for redemption and when it does not find it there, it falls into despair.

The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.

Even within the walls and halls of our own churches, a generation is looking to darkness to redeem them. Will we be like the generation Jesus first came to, the one who crucified Him, who were His own, but did not recognize Him because He came as Light.

In Him was LIFE and that LIFE was the LIGHT of MEN!

JOHN 1

Genie in a Bottle, Not

We often see Jesus as a genie in a lamp. We rub the lamp through prayer. We ask for our three wishes so that we can have an abundant life, free from pain and filled with prosperity. We pray in the name of Jesus, and claim all manner of things. We forget prayer is not a magic wand we wave to get what we want. It is instead a means to build relationship with God.

If our child walks up and demands this or that, in a tone of entitlement, we are much less likely to give them what they have so ungraciously asked for. If our kids only talk to us when they want something, or when they get into trouble, we are far less likely to give them what they think they want or lessen their punishment. But if we are in relationship with our kids, if they tell us about their day, the friends they have, how they did on their math test, what they are struggling with in life, what their passions are, who they need help learning to love, we are far more likely to give them what they want. When constant conversation is in place, our kids don’t have to demand their wants, nor subvert our authority when they are in trouble. No, when there is relationship then their wants are known and often given freely. When there is a bond of love, the discipline for misbehavior is consistent, loving, and given with mercy as well as justice.

When we know our kids, and they share their lives with us, then there is respect on both sides not a demanding, spoiled brat, speaking to a parent. When our kids have gratitude for what we are able to give them, then it is much more enjoyable to give them more. So too our Father loves us and wants to pour out abundant blessings in our lives, but He doesn’t want those blessings to be demanded. He wants to freely give to us what is best for us. But if all we do is feel entitled, then we won’t pray to know our Father but instead to get what we want from Him.
If you never talk to those you love, can you really love them? If you never listen to your friends, can you really know them? So too, if you never talk to or listen to your Father, you will never be able to really love Him, you will never be able to truly know Him.

All the things we think we need are worthless without the surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus.

We often pray for God to remove us from our trials, but in my life, the trial actually produces the fruit. For some reason, we believe that we should have a life free from pain, and if we name our demand and claim it from God, He has to grant our request. I am not sure when the teaching on what it means to be a Christian became so misguided, however. Christ suffered. He asked three times for the Father to take away the need for the cross, but in the end, Jesus surrendered Himself to His Father’s will. We are to follow Christ’s example. We are to identify with Him in our sufferings. It is through His suffering that we know Him most deeply. Apart from Him, apart from what He suffered for us on the cross, we can do nothing. If God does not remove our suffering, it is not because He does not love us, but because His greater purpose needs to be fulfilled in our lives.

The way we can know His love, His will, His heart for us is through a constant attitude of prayer. Not demanding our way, not rubbing the mystical lamp of prayer, but by talking to our God, and sharing our heart with Him. He might not decide to give us a new car, nor take away our pain when we want Him to, but He will walk with us through it all.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Philippians 4:6-7

Knots

My bad mothering actually led to this post. Last night, as we were coming home from somewhere, my oldest daughter said, “Mom, my hair feels so smooth.”

I said, “That is what happens when you brush it every day.”

She then said, “Sometimes when I have knots in my hair it feels like I have a cushion to lay my head on, but with smooth hair it doesn’t feel that way.”

I had to laugh. She is ten and would rather have her knotted cushion at times than the pain of a good hair brushing, and there are days I would rather her have knots than have to endure the whining and crying that go along with detangling her beautiful, brown hair. I honestly do not like inflicting pain on my children on a daily basis, but without the daily pain, the knots that build up get larger and harder to deal with, leading to a much greater and deeper pain later on down the road.

After the conversation in the car with my daughter, I began thinking about her hair and the knots. It is hard to be consistent in parenting, sometimes it feels easier, more merciful to let something go…to let some behavior go unaddressed, so I don’t have to hear the complaining or deal with the crying that can go along with discipline. I have found out though that avoiding misbehavior, okay let’s just call it what it is, sin, leads to even greater and deeper pain in the long run.

If I let my kids speak to me in a disrespectful manner one time, they will continue that behavior (sin/bad-habits are much easier to make than good ones are) until I stop them. It will be a much greater struggle to stop them six times later, than had I done it the first time around. Plus, allowing their disrespect unchecked always causes a counter disrespect in me. I end up responding to my kids in sarcasm at times, which is sin, and a tit for tat relationship begins instead of the much more mature and healthy parent-child relationship that should exist between me and my children.

Too often our "knots" get bigger, and become comfortable cushions. We don’t want to deal with the pain it will take to brush them out, so we deal with the sin longer than we should. It is only when our appearance becomes a concern that we tend to try to work though our knots in order to make ourselves presentable.

It is at the point when the neighbors down the street can hear me arguing back and forth with my kids out our open windows, I realize that I better become the parent instead of the adolescent kid trading barbs with my 12 year old. Why isn’t it enough to know that I should behave as the parent all the time? More importantly, why am I not motivated by a desire to reveal Christ to my kids? Sometimes I frustrates myself to no end.

We sure complain a lot about peer pressure, but we must need it because it is defiantly a tool that God has set up to bring about change in our lives. It gives us that audience we need to impress, and it helps us brush out the knots we have allowed to become our comfortable cushions in life.

The next time you are feeling like you just don’t want to brush the knots out, remember that the more they build up the bigger they get, and the more painful they are to brush out down the road. Consistent care of our kid's hearts, as well as our own, may not be easy, but brushing out the knots in our attitudes will smooth out all of our lives.

Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1b-2

Extravagant Love

On Sunday, Lloyd preached about the love of a father, a father who opened his arms to his prodigal son. Jesus used this father as an example of the extravagant love our Heavenly Father has for each of us.

Have you ever really sat and thought about how much our Heavenly Father loves you? Have you experienced His love and care for you like that prodigal who came home to the warm embrace of his father? What does that kind of love look like?

Last summer, Darren Norman presented a message that was challenging and moving all at the same time. It was about being an overcomer, and truly believing Phil. 4:13: I can do all things through Christ who strengths me. He concluded his message by showing a video of two men who have overcome great physical odds. These men are known as Team Hoyt, and they participated in triathlons.

If you know anything about triathlons, you can understand why Darren ended his message about being able to do all things with a video of an actual triathlon. And for those of you, who have only heard of this event, well let me give you the details of what those who actually compete accomplish. An Iron Man triathlon consists of a swim of 2.4 miles, followed immediately by a 112 miles bike, and concluding with a 26.2 mile run (a full marathon).

I can’t even imagine the kind of endurance needed for one of these races. I couldn’t walk as far as they run, let alone perform all three events one after another. These athletes know the meaning of endurance, perseverance and discipline, but for Team Hoyt, another and even deeper character trait has been added, LOVE.

You see, Team Hoyt consists of two individuals racing as one, Rick and Dick Hoyt. Rick Hoyt suffered severe brain damage at birth. He is unable to walk, has little to no use of his arms or hands, is unable to speak and has minimal control of his head and neck. Rick is able to communicate however. He has a computer that allows him to click a mouse and spell out his thoughts and wishes. Rick found out there was going to be a race in his community to raise money for a young man who had become paralyzed. He told his dad that he wanted to run in that race. His father, Dick Hoyt, wondered how to make that happen for his son. He decided to run in that race pushing Rick. Rick told his dad following that event, “When we were running, I felt like I was not disabled anymore.” When Dick heard that, he determined to continue running with his son, and run they did. Dick and Rick have run in 85 marathons, and completed eight triathlons together. Rick was born in 1962, making him 44 years old, and his dad is twenty years older than he is!

As I sat and watched the video Darren showed of one of the triathlons, I cried, as did my husband. I am sure there was not a dry eye in the house that morning, as we watched a father’s absolute devotion poured out on to his son. Dick Hoyt, pulled, carried and pushed his son for 140.6 miles simply because he loved him. Hoyt video clip link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4642920755415594672

I cried that morning for many reasons. I sat next to my husband, knowing as I watched that he would do the exact same thing for our children; loving him for loving us.

I also understood as I watched that I had finally seen in a visual sense the love that our Father demonstrates to us on a moment-by-moment basis. We are no different from Rick Hoyt in our inability to carry ourselves. We are all disabled by the sin that fills our bodies and overwhelms our lives. And, just as Dick Hoyt saw the freedom that running gave to his son, our Father sees the freedom His Son gives to each one of us. He did not leave us alone. No, instead He gave all of Himself to us, and does so on a daily basis through the sacrifice of Jesus.

If today you are in a circumstance that seems as if it will conquer you, know that your loving Father is not far from you. Our Father swims us through every trial that threatens to engulf us. He carries us as we ride over every bumpy road that attempts to cause us to stumble. He pushes us as we run the race that He has set before us. So no matter the trail you face, nor sin that stumbles, nor pain that hinders, He is right there with you. Remember Dick Hoyt the next time you are in a place of pain, allowing his love to remind you of your Father’s extravagant love.
Your Father knows what you need even before you ask Him. Matt. 6:8

Motive

I have this never-ending battle with myself every time I leave the grocery store pushing a cart. Do I walk the ten yards to the cart return area, or do I leave the cart parked nicely in a place that leaves room for others to park their cars? There are times that the “park the cart” voice wins out. It usually prevails when I am in a hurry, tired or just kind of in a bad mood.

The “return the cart” voice is usually the stronger of the two voices, however. It has a much bigger hammer. That voice motivates through guilt, saying such things as, “Well, if you leave the cart here, the wind might blow it into another car causing damage “or “You are the one always complaining about how bad the Wal-mart parking lot looks when everyone leaves their carts everywhere”. But, the most effective argument of all says, “A good Christian would walk the extra few steps to ensure that they don’t hurt their testimony, and who knows who is watching, maybe the cart attendant will be blessed and come to Jesus because you did the right thing.”

You can see why the “return” voice wins out most of the time. My decision to return the cart to its proper place could determine someone’s eternal destiny, so I HAVE to return it to the correct drop-off location.

As I write these words, I have to shake my head and laugh. Too often, I am driven by guilt instead of the motivator that should guide every step of my life, love. Love for Jesus should be my greatest motivation but sadly, it is not. No, the strongest motivation in my life tends to be vain conceit.

I was considering why this is the case; not just for me but for all human beings. We all do the things that we do for our personal good. Honestly, are we ever truly selfless, or are we always looking out for our best interests, even when we do the right thing.

Jesus knew the answer to that question. He nailed humanity. He knew that we could not even do the kindest act without looking for praise. He told His disciples, when they gave not to let their left hand know what their right was doing.

He explained that if they were going to fast in order to have deeper fellowship with the Father that they should not make a big deal out of it. They shouldn’t walk around the city moaning or complaining, looking all pitiful, drawing attention to themselves for being so pious. Jesus said, “If you’re going to fast, wash your face, comb your hair, put on clean clothes and don’t tell anyone what you’re doing.”

Can you believe it; we even become proud when we pray. Jesus taught that we should not hang out all day offering these long-winded prayers for everyone to hear, but if we really wanted to pray that we should stay home, in our closet, shut the door and pray with no one around to hear. We should actually talk to God, not just look holy, we should actually be holy.

Jesus knew/knows our hearts. He knows that we do not tend to do anything without thinking about what we will get out of it. How our actions will benefit us.

We are taught some wonderful life principles in church, like not stealing, cheating, lying. We are instructed to forgive, to give, and to care for others, but if we do these things simply because we want to live as “good Christians” we have missed the point. It is not out of self-preservation that we should apply these precepts to our lives. We should not try to live as outstanding citizens simply to be outstanding citizens, because if we are doing that then all we want is glory and honor for ourselves. If we live as Christians, so we appear to be Christians, then we are no different from the Pharisees Jesus confronted. They “looked” good on the outside, but Jesus called them “white washed tombs”. We too can appear as if we have it all together on the outside, yet be empty or devoid of true righteousness (rightness before God).

If, however, our motivation comes from loving Jesus, wanting to please Him, then we would not wrestle nearly as much as we do with doing the right thing. Our focus, our heartbeat would be to bring Him glory and honor, not ourselves. We would not look over our shoulder to see who was watching us park the cart, because we KNOW who lives within us and whom we serve. Jesus as our center does not leave much room for self.

So, the next time you’re struggling with something, you might want to check your motives. Are you struggling because of some wrong desire within yourself, the desire to appear to be something or someone? The problem with checking our own motives is the fact that, “The heart is deceitful above all else, who can know it?”

We cannot even know our own hearts, our own motivations, and that is why the Psalmist in Psalm 139:23-24 said, “Search me O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Only our God can reveal to us our motivation, and only He can give us the right one; one that draws attention to Him and not ourselves.

I figure that the cart attendant's salvation does NOT depend on my decision to nicely park the cart or return it to the cart area. My God is way bigger than that, but what the cart dilemma does reveal to me is that I have started an old pattern of trying to live life as a “good Christian” instead of simply being one.

I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength. Phil 2:13