A Road To, Through and From

I was thinking the other day about the cross. I was thinking about suffering. I was thinking about how much I and you want to avoid suffering. I was thinking about the cross. I was thinking about life.

And began to think about life and the cross. My life, your life, Christ's cross, our cross. I have come to realize three realities of the cross and my life:

All life must must go to the cross. Jesus is both the author and sustainer of all life. We live in a world marked by brokenness and suffering and Jesus on the cross bought for us the ability to partner with God in his redemptive plan to be agents of his Kingdom restoring the brokenness of a messed up world. Our life -- a surrendered life -- must go to the cross.

All life must go through the cross. We cannot avoid the the suffering of this world, we must not avoid the suffering that flows naturally from a lifestyle that rejects the cultural captivity and that suffers loss as it both seeks to bless the world and reject the power systems in it. We share in the sufferings of Jesus at the cross and become more of humanity as he intended and become transformed into a redemptive force for good in the world. Everything worth living comes from dying.

All life must go from the cross. We don't stay there in whole. We go to the cross repeatedly, we go through the cross repeatedly and we go from the cross repeatedly as sent agents of incarnation, carrying with us the hope of going to the cross, the pain of going through the cross and the hope of living out a life as new creation, and for new creation; to live lives as a sign, a signpost and instruments of God's kingdom done on earth as it is done in heaven.

All of us to varying degrees and in various ways steer off this road to, through and from the cross. All seek at times to avoid the surrender, the suffering or the sentness that is the reality of who we are. But, there really are no detours. All who travel this road must accept, and then cheer, that the continual journey to, through and from the cross.

The Poor You Will Always Have With You

Someone asked me a while back what I thought about Jesus' statement when the people grumbled about the woman who "wasted" so much money on perfume for jesus head. Couldn't the money have a better use, couldn't it be used to care for the poor? We all remember Jesus' reply: "For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me." Amazingly Jesus words have even been used as an excuse to not care about the poor -- why bother, they will always be there. I have been asked about the verse before, and I'm sure I will be again. But, the other day I had a new thought about it's meaning.

What if Jesus was actually being consistent with himself when he said "whenever you care for the least and the hurting you have cared for me?" What if Jesus was saying, "you have me here now, perfume me up, bless me." "And when I am gone, continue to do so when you see me in my distressing disguise." What if it is all about worshiping God, then and now, that all we do and all we are is dependent upon seeking more of God? And, what if that is actually experienced with our hands and feet in service to the underdog.

Love God with all your heart and mind and soul.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

I think these commandments are in that order for a reason.

My little girl's art work

A dad never gets tired of seeing his baby's art -- even when she is all grown up.

What, you chicken?

Saw this today, from Song of the Bird by Tony de Mello

A man found an eagle's egg and put it in a nest of a barnyard hen. The eaglet hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them.

All his life the eagle did what the barnyard chicks did, thinking he was a barnyard chicken. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he would trash his wings and fly a few feet into the air.

Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among the powerful wind curents, with scarcely a beat of its' strong golden wings

The old eagle looked up in awe. "Who's that?" he asked.

"That's the eagle, the king of birds," said his neighbor. "He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth -- we're chickens."

So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that's what he though he was.

Is there a place in my life -- in your life -- where we are living as chickens when in reality God has made us eagles?

Don't Worry, Be . . . About The Kingdom

I guess if someone had to label what I do, they might call me a missionary. A missionary to the mission field we call home. But, that is not quite right. Maybe I am a prophet, to speak into and demonstrate to the Church what it can be. That is not quite it either. Maybe church planter. But, where is my church, where is the building, where is the parking lot. I would say that I am trying to live out a Kingdom ethic and lifestyle that redeems the way of Jesus to those whose observation of "the way of Jesus" would have been pretty unsettling to, well Jesus for one.

That last sentence, when said in an answer to the question "what do you do?" is a real conversation starter -- I mean stopper. In any event, I do what I do through the partnership of others who come alongside me and my family and provide us with the money we live on. We trust God each month to provide. And it is a thrilling adventure (in the light) but a scary alley in times of doubt.

We are living in the midst of rare economic times; there is an atmosphere of great economic uncertainty -- flowing from both quantifiable and less quantifiable data points. The result, however is anxiety -- lots of anxiety. Anxiety that causes those who might give to missionaries, or churches or church planters or whatever, to not do so. There are also some who have lost jobs and who have no money and do not know when that will change. And, their is anxiety in this missionary/church planter/prophet/whatever.

And so for me, I turned today to the sweet and comforting words of Jesus; which I write here, for you if you are anxious too, but mostly for me.

Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his ispan of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

So, today I will not be anxious. Instead, I will be about the King, his Kingdom and his business -- and rely a bit on the fact that he might have a better handle on the future than me.

Everyday Resolutions

I don't do New Years resolutions.

Maybe I just have so many things that need to change that if I waited until the first day of each year to write them down I would run out of paper and ink.

Maybe an everyday resolution, an everyday series of resolutions that I will succeed at and fail at and ultimately grow grow at. There are only four, but they should do Here goes:

1. To See God's Presence Throughout The Day

2. To Trust God Instead of Substitutes for Him

3. To Recognize God's Intimate, Unwavering Love For, And Belief In, Me

4. To See The Opportunity That God Brings Each Day To Incarnate Him

A Wonderful Christmas

So, that is our kitchen floor about 20 minutes after we finished dinner on Christmas Eve.

A wonderful meal, wonderful conversation, a fire in the fireplace, and watching It's A Wonderful Life. Then "boom," followed by a sound like a fire hose. Like the guy in The Night Before Christmas who" rose from his bed to se what was the matter, " (when he like us heard such a clatter) we ran to the kitchen to see a massive incoming tide from underneath the sink as pipes which had chosen this night to pop were quickly evacuating large quantities of water under great pressure. Every towel in the house was brought into action before the water soaked into the edges of our floor and underneath. Water off, everything soaked, then washing machine broke.

And you know what? It was a wonderful Christmas. We bought less, we worshiped more, we made gifts we helped the poor.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Pete Has Got It Going On

So, a month or so I wrote a bit about the election - promising that the political thing will not become a habit here. Likewise, today a story about Pete Carroll, head football coach at USC - not a change in direction, but a great video with some great insights. Enjoy
Watch CBS Videos Online

The Secret of Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. It has so many of the things that I enjoy: family, food and football (in no particular order). I love Thanksgiving. That is, I love the holiday we call Thanksgiving. But removed from the context as the gateway of the Christmas season what about the word Thanksgiving.

These past couple of weeks I have been thinking about that word, about what it means and about what it would look like to possess a heart of thanksgiving that is not dependent upon the things that are going well in your life -- or the things that are going bad. I love what the apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Philippi. He wrote to them from prison and said:

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things dthrough him who strengthens me.

I want to be content in all circumstances -- don't you? Wouldn't that be the secret of thanksgiving -- in all circumstances. And Paul had what we'd call street cred. I mean what is the worst thing that has happened to you? Paul lived with a physical disability, was shipwrecked not once, but 3 times -- floating in the open ocean for who knows how long, beaten with whips embedded with bone, glass and rock on multiple occasions, and thrown into jail. And he was content. How? Because he did not depend on the many good things and good times in his life for his sense of contentment, and he didn't let the many bad things in his life rob his contentment.

Instead, Jesus was his contentment.

Jesus as your contentment. That is the secret of thanksgiving -- in all circumstances.

The Hope You Can Believe In

Maybe I'm being too critical, maybe I'm just getting old.

Maybe I'm right.

I stopped listening to Christian Talk Radio on November 9, 2000. I remember the moment, driving home from work listening to caller after caller talking about George Bush's election the day before and how their hope for America -- and even a deeper hope -- had been restored. There was hope again in Christian America.

Fast forward almost 8 years. I have Christian friends who believe that if Obama wins, all hope for the Church, our faith, our nation -- and you'd think our very lives is at stake. I have other Christian friends who believe that if McCain wins, all hope for the Church, our faith, our nation -- and you'd think our very lives is at stake. Someone has to be right, someone has to be wrong. Or, just maybe, both are wrong.

I stopped listening to Christian Radio 8 years ago not because I was happy or sad that W had won, but because so many Christians seemed to be saying their hope was based -- at least to some degree on the outcome. Now, I see that again -- with both candidates.

I think it is important to vote. It is important to get involved in issues, to work for whichever candidate you favor. I think it is ok to believe that one candidate is a fool or a liar, dangerous or disconnected -- and that the guy you want win is none of those things. But, and here is my point: He is not your hope. If he is, take a hard, hard look in the mirror, because he shouldn't be.

Get involved, make a difference, vote. Regardless of the outcome, stay involved. But, remember that your hope -- and the hope for the world -- is found only real hope if it is placed in a guy who isn't even on the ballot, and would in fact, decline if asked, to run.

The Things We Can't Control

Let me start out by saying that this is not a post about global warming. Rather it is a point about our fear of being out of control. Ok, disclaimer made, post begins:

So, I was reading yesterday and came across a line about global warming taking place on Mars at the same rate as on Earth. The conclusion -- this is horrible, in fact the author used the word "extremely scary." Extremely scary he posits because if global warming is taking place on Mars at the same rate as Earth, than maybe people are not primarily responsible. And, he concludes, if we are not responsible, what hope can we have to fix it?

Scary? Maybe. Sure.

But, I think there is something deeper going on behind what the author wrote, deeper, and into the human soul; the fear that comes from the inability to control. If God is not in control, and we are not in control, then, well, we are on the preverbal roller coaster run out of control, and the chances of a good ending . . . not so much. But, what if God is in control? Well, then a whole new can of worms is opened up, a whole can of worms that call us to some sort of response -- acknowledgement, acceptance, denial rejection, something. And if acknowledgment and acceptance, what then?

Acknowledgment and acceptance of God's control -- or from the other side of things, our lack their of -- is not a call toward passivity or a deterministic fatalism, but a call to action. If God is in control, the opportunities are endless. If God is in control, the freedom is towering. Imagine, the creator of the universe, the holder of all power and authority, the sustainer of all life (that is the way the bible puts it and to me it sounds like a lot of control that is not in my hand) wanting to partner with you in his redemptive work here on Earth. Because he does.

God's plan throughout the bible is a plan of redemption -- taking the messy, broken, warming, death filled, poverty ridden, disease infested planet and being his agents of hope and redemption -- not alone, but partnering with God, partnering with the one who actually can control the outcome.

Maybe me not being in control is not so scary after all.

A Lost Generation

One of my great sadnesses is the great many young people who grew up in good churches that no longer consider themselves Christians. Many of them didn't fit in the church that they were in for very valid reasons, yet no one was around to show them that many of their complaints were actually biblical and good. Yet they saw a problem with an institution and pegged it as a problem with Jesus.

As sad as that is, I follow a God of hope and believe that within this group of ex-Christians live many of the future leaders of an authentic and biblical church that faithfully follows Jesus. Take a minute to watch as I explain why it is that I do what I do in the ministry God has given me.

Harder for a Rich Man To Get Into Heaven?

Jesus knew that when we have riches, we inevitably tend to hope in our riches rather than him -- and then we become poor indeed.

So, I'm watching John McCain be interviewed by Rick Warren. In a room filled with christians, in a a church that is one of the biggest in the world, this was McCain phrase drew the loudest applause. "I don't want to take money away from the rich, I want everybody to be rich." This is not a political post, but a post on the state of the many many churches, many many Christians. I think the response would be the same the statement been made in a great many of our churches.

So what's the big deal? My answer, it just made me sad. Not the answer, but the level of applause in a church to that line. It is not an evil line, but the loud cheering response makes me sad.

"I want everybody to be rich." -- Thunderous applause, In a room filled with Christians, people whose Lord, Jesus, would might say if he were there what he said when he was with his disciples, "It is very unlikely that a rich man will follow me."
And you know what? I don't think that Jesus' line would get the kind of applause that John McCain's did. I just don't. Do the people who applaud know that they could just as easily be applauding the line "I want it harder for people to come to Christ."

I know that's not what he said, I know the crowd would not cheer if he said that. But, I also know that the Church in the west is often very very blind to how the idolatry of wealth has caused us not only to lose our ability to see the poor, but also has caused us to lose our ability to hear what Jesus has to say.

Blowing Somebody To Hell Without A Second Thought

Just got back from spending time with Kelly's relatives up in Oregon. They are Mennonite, but grew up Amish -- talk about interesting stories, not to mention the good food; I'd need a barn raising to burn off all the calories I ate.

Anyway, I had an interesting conversation with 81 year old Aunt Ida. She was explaining how sad she was when her son joined the army years ago, how it was so heartbreaking. As our conversation continued she said something that stuck with me. She told me she asked her son how he could even consider "shooting somebody and sending them to hell."

Interesting. I had never thought of it that way.

Now, theological nuances and pondering aside (and this is not a post about Iraq or the army or war in general) but, it bothered me that I never even though of that before. And so I had to ask myself why? Why had I never thought about that? My conclusion: I am perhaps more inundated by individualism and pragmatism than Jesus -- and I don't think I'm alone. I mean, how many Christians in America or elsewhere would think about the actions they would take in war or self defense first in terms of the effect that they might have on the ability of the person at the other end of their actions being able to choose to follow Jesus.

Let me get real practical. If a person was about to kill one of my children and I had a gun, I would blow them straight to hell without a second thought. I wonder if Jesus were living my life, faced with the same situation, if he would do the same thing. I don't think he would. I know he would grieve for the person, but I also think he might not shoot. And then what?

This is a post with questions and without answers. I'd still blow the bastard away, so don't mess with my kids.

I'm troubled by these questions -- at least that's a start.

Trust not Certainty

Was listening to a podcast at the gym today and heard this great story about this guy's quest for certainty in Gods call, and the intersection of his quest with Mother Teresa.

The guy was from the States, and he felt the call of God on his life -- was sure that God was calling him to do something great. Problem was, he had no clue what that great thing was. Well, he had the opportunity to meet Mother Teresa and he asks her to pray for him, and she says yes. Then she asks "what do you want me to pray for you?" He answers "I want clarity." "I want to know exactly what it is that God is calling me to do with my life." Mother Teresa looked back at him and said, "No, I won't pray for that for you." The guy was confused and embarrassed, and he blurts out, "but why, I only want what you've had for your life." "You seem to always know exactly what it is that Gods calling you to do." She looked back at him and said, "I sir, have never had certainty, what I have had is trust." "So, I'll pray that you learn how to trust."

For I Was Naked And You . . . Smiled?

What a tragedy -- aftershocks continue to roll in China as just this weekend 70,000 more houses collapsed as the ground underneath them moved.

What a horror -- maybe as many as 100,000 people are dead.

What a nightmare -- parents waiting at schools to pick up their children, only instead they are handed a lifeless corpse to carry home, children waiting to be picked up and instead wondering the streets looking for the parents they will never find.

What a joy? What a joy? Are you kidding me? How about what a sickness. Kelly was telling me this morning as we were overcome with such sadness at seeing the above picture and thinking of all that is behind it, that several people smiled this week when she shared her sadness for the victims of the earthquake. Smiled! How, you ask? Why you ask? "Because this means the end times are closer." Translation, in my warped view of how God looks at the world, I should be happy that hundreds of thousands of people are mutilated and killed around the world, because it could meant that I get to go to heaven sooner.

Somehow I don't seem to see that kind of thought process anywhere in the bible; I don't see that anywhere in the heart of Jesus, in his compassion for even those who didn't want anything to do with him, in his tears, in his weeping.

What a sicknesss -- it is a sickness, a corrupted gospel that could result in people who claim to be Christians smiling at the death of children because in their reductionistic, individualistic perversion of the gospel, they might benefit. (Oh, and besides, there are lots of Chinese, and they all look the same anyway -- Kelly read this and asked me to point out that they didn't say this part; this is just my editorial assumption). These people are sick.

Kelly says I can't say what I want to, that they're all going to hell, so I won't. Instead, I'll say, "look close, maybe one of those people who all look the same to you is Jesus."

The Tragedy of the “what if” life

How many Christians in the west live fear motivated lives? I call them “what if” lives. “God can’t be calling me to this, because “what if . . .” There are so many what ifs, hearing them, paying attention to them is good, but being controlled by them is tragic – and unbiblical. When Jesus asks us to partner with him in his Kingdom agenda he does not require recklessness, but it invites us into lives without fear. How tragic it is that so many who claim to follow Him seem value security and certainty and worship the “what if” more than they do him.

Thumb through the bible, thumb through human history, both are filled with people who did amazing things, things that if it turned out that there was no God, would have been crazy, but they stepped out into uncertainty with a certainty of who God is. And you know what? They never would have done it if they had been controlled by our obsession with security and certainty, if they lived lives of fear, lies of what if.

Nobody knows how life is going to play out. Life is filled with surprise and mystery and uncertainty. So, what do you do with that if you live a what if life? Do you huddle in fear and decide not to follow God unless you have all of the answers? God has always called people into moments, invited inviting them to join him by not to settle for the myth of security (which ironically ignores the fact that all plans can be shattered by a thousand unknowns even if we never step out to join God in what he is doing). God has always been in the business of calling people to step out into the reality that he promises us a life without fear – if we choose to take him up on it. God never promises that all the “what ifs” will be answered. In fact, I don’t think he wants them answered, I don’t think God wants us to have certainty as to how everything will work out when he calls us to step out in faith. Instead, he promises that if we shelve the myth of security and follow him when he calls that we will live amazing lives that will not be wasted, that is the certainty God gives us.

And so, my question: are you going to live your life trapped in fear and uncertainty or are you going to walk with confidence in the certainty that you have? And then laugh in the face of uncertainty. Because in the end we do not need to know the answers to all the “what if;” we don’t need to know, we just need to go, to follow, to trust, to surrender, and then to listen for his voice calling us to join him in what he is doing, and then do so. Faith means being willing to step out in the midst of uncertainty with the certainty that our lives will not be wasted when we step out to partner with God in what He is doing.

So many people spend their lives hoping that God will pick them for great things, "oh, pick me, pick me." And they wait and they wait for the time when there is no risk, they wonder why God never picked them, and die having lives wasted lives.

A fear based life of “what ifs” is sad in the present, but a tragedy in the end.

Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is

It's been a hard week.

I originally posted this a couple of weeks ago, at that time I was reporting upon a shocking surprise from which I believed we would recover and move on to China in August. We just found out last Wednesday that though we are convinced that we are called to go at this time and for this purpose -- coaching and mentoring leaders working with the poorest of the poor in China -- we have officially been stopped. And yet, we also know that this does not surprise God who is the God of who seeks justice, who loves the widows and the orphans. Don't you love the paradoxes that exist all around us -- God's love for justice and people being treated unjustly, most of them much more unjustly than we ever have -- I'm glad that God is so much bigger than our understanding of him (props to C.S. Lewis) It is an amazing time to lean into God and say "teach me," or simply "what is up with this?" Anyway, here is the previous post, once a hurdle, now a barrier.

If you have been following here, or more likely if you are someone who knows me and my family, you know the journey that we have been on towards China. I have always had a heart for China and for Chinese people -- going all the way back to my college days in the early 80's when I took over a year of Chinese history, culture and politics.

Ok, the post is starting to get boring, let me jump to the point.

We have been stepping towards an amazing opportunity -- to move to China and train leaders so that the Church in China can meet the need -- and be the incarnation and signpost of the Kingdom -- through stepping into the breach of the flood of AID's orphans that will hit Southern China within the next 5 years. We have seen miraculous confirmation of this move. And then in a period of 4 days the door seems to have been slammed shut, by an unexpected source with very little recourse. Why? I don't know.

My life verse is my life verse because I will never get there in this life -- but I want to get closer and closer.

I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

We are praying, we are listening and we are trying to break through what we think is not a blockage from God, but above all, it's time for me to put my money where my mouth is and whatever may be find contentment in the One who makes me who I am.

It's been a hard week.

P.S. After being unable to break through this and seeing things behind the scenes that are scary and break our hearts a bit, it has been another hard week.

An Important Issue Facing Christians Today?

Now this is something that seems really important. Apparently a group in Florida is fighting for the ability to have personalized license plates that read "I believe," like the one in the picture. They are getting push back from the ACLU, because the ACLU claims it violates the separation of church and state -- which is really stupid, because if somebody wants to say "I believe" then who cares, and how is that a state religion -- but I digress. Apparently this fight has been going on for years -- I guess these people feel they need to license plates to tell others they believe because no one would know otherwise.

Is that harsh? Maybe. But, what if they put as much effort into demonstrating that they believed through their life and their interaction with others than through something that merely labels themselves as someone who believes (or maybe labels their car as a car that believes). I know that for me there are a lot of people (myself included) that sometimes it is better that people not know I believe. I think that people being labeled as believers and then acting like jerks has done more damage to the Gospel than almost anything else.

Food for thought is the end of the article about the guy who is pushing this effort. It reads, "Bullard, the plate's sponsor, isn't sure all groups should be able to express their preference. If atheists came up with an "I Don't Believe" plate, for example, he would probably oppose it."

Huh?

A Challenge To The Church In The West

I've been reading The Resurrection of the Chinese Church. Although the book is a bit dated it is a fascinating snapshot at the Chinese church in the early 1990's -- and a look back towards how it emerged from the darkness of the 70' and the particularly fierce persecution that took place during the Cultural Revolution. When the fog of isolation began to fade, the church raised its head to show that it not only had survived, but had thrived dispute predictions from the west that it would be driven out of existence. Wang Mingdao one of the patriarchs of the Chinese church explained this surprise simply: "We have nothing -- no pastors, no churches, no bibles . . . nothing! We only have God. Therefore, we must always go to him with desperation."

The author, Tony Lambert concludes:

The reason for the growth of the church in china and for the outbreak of genuine spiritual revival in many areas is inextricably linked to the whole theology of the cross. For may Chinese Christians, the doctrine of the atonement of Christ is not a theory but a lived-out reality. The cross and the resurrection, death and life, suffering and glory are linked together in living experience.

The experience of the Chinese church has a deep message for the church oversees . . . . In terms of understanding of Scripture and Christina life and experience the Chinese church challenges western Christians to re-examine our motivation and our loyalty to Christ and Scripture. The stark message of the Chinese church is that God uses suffering and the preaching of a crucified Christ to pur out revival and build his church. Are we in the west still willing to hear?

Ouch -- it hurts because it's true.