Quarter Century

A quarter century passed on Feb 15. A lot has happened in the last 25 years. I’ve been to 16 different countries…some more than once. I’ve climbed mountains. Laughed hysterically. Cried vigorously. Met strangers. Shared love. Bonded. Became a Brother to people I had never met. Seen God in amazing ways. Shared Jesus. Found Jesus. Been angry with God. Laughed with God. Talked long talks with God. Walked with God. Regretted things I’ve done. Remembered. Forgotten. Forgiven. Preached a wedding…and a funeral. Lived in a different country. Moved out on my own. Experienced new adventures. Had my first spanking. Took my first breath.

I have seen and done a lot in the first 25 years of my life. I don’t say this to boast or to make you think more of me. I’ve done a lot in my short existence. Looking back on my list of stuff I’ve seen and done I get excited about the opportunities I’ve had. In 25 years I hope my list looks different…not that I don’t want anymore adventure because I really do. I hope that when I am 50 and I look back at the last quarter century…my next 25 years, I hope my list looks more like Paul’s in 2 Corinthians 11.

When I look back over my life I hope to see all of the times that I could do nothing more than to put my trust in God. I hope I see a life that was a life of dependence and not on independence. I hope that the next 25 years will be lived in a way that I find no strength in myself but only in God.

Now that I know what I want to look back on…how do I live it? What areas in my life do I depend on myself and not God? Where to I turn first when something happens…either good or bad? During time of crisis…economic, physical, mental…where do I find my strength? In all areas of my life, do I see God or myself?

Grace and Peace to You

Grace and peace to you. Grace and peace to you from God our Father. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

I am constantly amazed at some of the things that Paul said to people in his letters. Sometimes he comes across as absolutely brutal. If he were a “hired minister” at a particular congregation he would most likely be fired for some of the things he said to those who are under the name of Christ. On a number of occasions he called individuals out, saying that they were under Satan’s influence. He used language and imagery to get his point across that isn’t even secularly accepted today in public. Most of all he was passionate about what he was saying…and he meant it.

No matter what Paul had to say, he said it under the banner of the grace and peace of God. I think back to things I’ve said and often I speak out of all kinds of wrong motives. The banner that is often flown with our lips is a banner of pride, anger, revenge, annoyance, etc. Everything Paul said in his letters was said in order to bring grace and peace.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Living in the Promise Land

I’m not the biggest fan of Chinese Philosophy…not that there is a ton wrong with it…I’m just more of a Greek guy myself. Every once in a while I stumble over into the Chinese Philosophers and pay them a little bit of attention. There is a desire early in life to want to change the world…one of the reasons I love working with teens. Most people realize at some point that changing the world is a pretty overwhelming task so they settle for simply living life. What does this have to do with Chinese Philosophers? Nothing really except that I re-stumbled across a quote from Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC).

“To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.”

Gandhi said it in another way, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” but I would like to focus on one area of what Confucius said. To get the family in order you must get yourself in order. To get yourself in order you must get your heart right. It seems as though that focusing on family helps change the world. Centering on family you find foundation for growing your heart and for developing yourself.

When Israel was about to enter the promise land, God saw the struggle of keep their hearts on Him standing in front of them. Deuteronomy 6:10-12 reads, “When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

When you live in a land that doesn’t promote depending on Him, God warns them to be careful to not forget Him. How are we to not forget God living in the land that we live where we don’t have much dependence on Him for our daily life? God sets an order in place so that His people will stay faithful to Him in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

What can change in your family this year that will help you change the world?

Epitaph

If you had one last thing to say, what would it be? What would you want to stick with you in the minds of every person that speaks of your name? Every time you’re visited you repeat simple words for them to remember…what would they be? What would your epitaph say?

Living on the east coast there are a lot of cemeteries with some really old graves in them. I don’t do this often but I’ve walked through a graveyard looking at different headstones, imagining the life that they lived. Every once in a while you find someone with a meaningful story. Someone took the time to tell their story because their life had great meaning. I am amazed by this. Have you ever thought about what you would like your epitaph to say? If you looked at your life right now, what would it say? With the start of the New Year I contemplate this more and more.

I have a deep appreciation for Saint Patrick. He felt God’s calling, dropped everything, followed it, and died with a great epitaph on the breastplate on his tomb. It reads:

Christ be with me
Christ before me
Christ behind me
Christ in me
Christ beneath me
Christ above me
Christ on my right
Christ on my left
Christ where I lie
Christ where I sit
Christ where I arise
Christ in the heart of every man
who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of every man
who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me
Salvation is of the Lord.

When I die, I want everyone to understand that in all areas of my life, Christ was there. Now…I need to examine what needs to happen in order for Christ to be where He belongs.

Caught the Garter...Again

I caught the garter…again. I’m two for two this year in my wedding to garter ratio. I know what a lot of you are thinking. I am supposed to get married within a year. Since I caught a second garter…does that buy me more time? I digress. The fact is I love going to weddings. This wedding was my best friend’s little sister. I have the deepest appreciation for their family and was delighted when it worked out that I got to be there to see this momentous event take place. She was glowing. He kept winking at her. Tears filled many of our eyes at the beautiful sight that was taking place before us. I hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, told her how beautiful she looked, and congratulated her. She was happy I could be there since I live so far away. I was happy I could be there.

I was sharing this event with a brother of mine who is a spiritual warrior that I respect so much. I was cracking jokes about catching the garter again when he said, “Ryan, I remember you saying a while ago that you’re the Bride of Christ.” He often exposes the spiritual side of the jokes that I am making. I appreciate him for that. Our conversation shifted directions. I’ve been pondering his comments. He’s helped me grow a little bit more.

I was at a wedding of two people that I care a lot about and I didn’t think I would be able to make it. Not only did I get to go to the wedding but I caught the garter. I got to participate in one of the great rituals of marriage with this wonderful couple. I wasn’t even supposed to be there because I live so far away.

I was reminded of the wedding banquet that we’ll have with Jesus. We aren’t worthy of being there. Not because of distance in miles but because of the distance of sin. Jesus doesn’t just invite us as guests but He invites us to be His Holy Bride. What an honor! What delight! He brought us such a great distance so we could take part in this wedding with Him.

If you we are the Bride of Christ, what does our dress look like? Does your life reflect what you want your dress to look like? By the Grace of God, He makes it white for us if we’ll let Him.

Open Their Eyes

Have you ever sat in front of someone and they weren’t sitting in front of you? You’re talking to them; they are nodding their head, giving the occasional, “mmhmm,” but it is obvious they really aren’t with you. I’ve talked to people from New York City and they tell me about how lonely it can be. I find it hard to believe that in a city booming with so many people that you can stand alone in a crowd. They are right there next to you but you’re miles apart.

A lot of people have this view of God. You talk to Him but He just doesn’t seem to be there. You tell them that He’s standing right in front of them…all around them…but they see Him as a distant God. God created this whole shindig and then stepped away. Most people live out their lives with this view of a distant God. Why? I think it is because they have never really opened their eyes to His presence…or no one has opened their eyes to His presence.

I really love the story of Elisha and his servant in II Kings 6. Verse 17 grabs me…“And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” Elisha prayed this for his servant because he himself could see the Glory of God all around him. He then shared it.

We are the people who are in intimate relationship with God. We are the ones who see His face. We are the ones marked with His Holy Spirit. We are the temple He dwells in. We are the people who open the eyes of those around us to see God standing in front of them. How will you open someone’s eyes this week so they see that God is standing right there in front of them?

Life

We’ve been studying the book of Acts on Sunday mornings in the Youth Ministry. Acts has been a fun study for me as I’ve taught it over the past few months. There are a number of different themes that you’ll find but one that comes back more than any other. “The Message of Life” is a theme found just about on every page as you thumb through this book. This has really spoken to me as I examine my own life. Every message preached was this Message of Life. Death is involved in this Life but it isn’t the focal point.

This is where I started to examine my life and the message that I present each person I encounter. Are they hearing the Message of Life or the Message of Death when they see my reactions to daily life? What do they see when they experience my life? Death? Life?

We are the people who are the Temple. The people where Heaven meets Earth. The people who are marked by the Holy Spirit. If Heaven is the reality of the presence of God, and we have Him inside of us, do our lives reflect this Message of Life? When people experience us, they need to catch a small glimpse of Heaven. The reality of God’s Presence needs to flow out of us into the people around us. We should look different from this world because of this mark we have, the Holy Spirit.

Paul spent a lot of his time going back to the churches he had visited or planted, encouraging them. I think his encouragement would have been centered on bringing the reality of Heaven into your daily life. To live Life. To live the Message of Life.

If you were to encourage someone today what would you encourage them to do? What would you encourage them to be? How would you encourage them? What would you say? What would you do?

God, What Do You Want?

For the first time in my life I have had the ability to accumulate “stuff.” I’ve never had this ability before and I’ve been struggling with it. On one side of the stuff I see a Gospel being preached in Christendom that God blesses us with stuff when we are good followers of Him. On the other side of the stuff I’ve read a number of authors that more or less preach “God wants your stuff.” If you don’t give all of your stuff to Him then you are not really one of His disciples…you really aren’t following Him. I have some respect for this second group because I’ve actually seen many of them live it out in powerful ways…but I’m still not sure if that is what the Gospel really teaches…I’m not sure if that is what Jesus really says.

In Luke’s Gospel we find Jesus in conversation with a “Rich Young Ruler.” He asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responds with a list from the Law but the Rich Guy had kept all of those since he was a boy. Jesus then says something that I have heard people throw around a lot in terms of “Stuff.” He says in 18:22, “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.” It is this verse along with, “You cannot serve both God and money” found in Matt 6:27, which have been used to say that it is wrong for followers of Jesus to have stuff.

I have been struggling with this teaching for some time, and I know how controversial it can be, so I want to share a conviction and a challenge to you. Take it or leave it…I won’t judge. I don’t think Jesus wants our stuff. Somewhere in the middle of these two extreme teachings of Poverty vs Plenty we find what Jesus was really saying. In I Sam 16:7, God tells Samuel, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

All throughout Jesus’ teachings I feel like He is echoing what God told Samuel. If you can get past what Jesus said to the Rich Guy, He then says, “I tell you the truth…no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” It isn’t just about the stuff. It is about anything that takes your heart away from God. Go read Luke 9:57-62. Jesus encounters different people who want to follow Him but first want to take care of their stuff. He tells them at the end to focus on what is important…He wants their hearts.

Here we ask the question in Luke 18:26, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus’ answer is basically this. “If you try and be saved on your own…you’re arrogant. Give it to God. It is only possible with Him.” Here is the challenge…examine your life on a regular basis. What can you give up for a time to make sure God has your heart? Make the practice of sacrifice and depend on God…be reminded the He is God and you are not. He wants nothing more than your heart. Find ways to make sure He has it!

Chocolate Pie

I was thinking the other day about chocolate pie…not that it consumes my thoughts often…but this time of year I have to prepare myself for it. My Mother and Grandmother both make incredible chocolate pies. I have to eat a few slices of each holiday and I never reveal which chocolate pie is better…when the other is in the room. I always kiss Grandma on the cheek and tell her that hers is the best…then go and do the same thing to my mom. They get their lovin…I get my pie…we’re all happy.

Grandma still isn’t doing very well so I don’t guess I get to play my usual game with her and mom. It isn’t about the pie at all. I really look forward to seeing her but things are going to be different this year…again.

Over the past 5-6 years it seems as though my family has looked different at each Thanksgiving meal that has passed. Close family has passed on and others just cannot be with us anymore. Grandbabies have been born. I’ve moved away and everything seems to change a little bit each year. It can be hard at times and I can see where people have a hard time finding what there is to be thankful for. I know these probably aren’t the thoughts you were expecting right here before Thanksgiving but they are the thoughts I am having.

I believe life is about choices. I right now choose to be happy and thankful. My Grandmother is a Saint…a Woman of God. My brother is growing in his relationship with God. I am a Child of God which makes me part of an incredible Family that I love spending time with. I have a lot of people in my life that I am very thankful for. God has blessed me with amazing relationships.

I see where it can be hard to look at all the bad things going on in life but I am going to make the choice to look at the good. We are the people who know what is Good about everything going on in the world. We are the people who know Who is the Good that is going on in this world. Make the choice to be happy, to be thankful, and to share the Good with others so they can be happy and thankful too.

Letter From Paul

As you look through the New Testament, you see a lot of letters written from Paul, Peter, John, or one of the other Apostles to some church or some individual. Most of the time they are helping them get back to what is important. They are helping them get back to Jesus. To get back to a relationship with God…and what that really means. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says He didn’t come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. That is because everyone was missing the point.

According to the Law…I’m doing pretty good…I haven’t killed anyone all day. Jesus brings everyone back to what is important. You say you haven’t killed anyone all day…how are you doing with your anger problem? There is something deeper that Jesus is calling us to in the Sermon on the Mount. There is something deeper that the Apostles tried to call the church to than simply “doing church.” They were encouraging when they needed to be encouraging. They were blunt when they needed to be blunt. They didn’t hold back if you needed to hear what they needed to say. And they did it all out of love for God’s people.

I’ve been asking myself a question that I want to challenge you to ask as well. If Paul were to write me a letter…what would he say? If a letter were written to Northview…what would it say? Would it look like a letter in Revelation? A letter to Corinth? Philippi? Berea? What would the letter say to you/us about how we need to get back to Jesus…to what is really important?

Eye for an Eye...Really?

Good events happen in the world every day. Bad events take place in this world each day as well. Some events are good for one person and bad for another. Sporting events can be this way. Championships in particular. Elections. Vacations. Just about every kind of activity comes down to what your attitude is. I’ve been on a hiking trip where most of our time we were hiking in the rain. I loved it but one of the other guys thought it was the worst experience of his life. We react to everything that happens in life. That reaction often shows who we really are.

Whatever your reaction is to events in this world either makes this world sicker or healthier. This can either be a personal reaction to something someone says or a mass reaction to a major event that affects everyone. Sometimes a small group of loud obnoxious people react in very sick ways and poorly represent the rest of people who are also classified in their group. Many reactions in history have been done under the flag of Christianity that have made the world sicker.

There are things that Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount that annoy me at times…mostly because I know He’s right and I simply don’t want to do it. For instance in Matt 5:38-42, “You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

When the world says, “Hit!” Jesus says, “Don’t react maliciously!” When the world says, “Steal!” Jesus says, “Make a gift out of it!” I think Jesus would even go on to say that if someone says something bad to you, tell them thank you for your opinion. As Followers of Christ we have to be careful what kind of reaction we have to everything that happens in this world. I’ve watched many of my fellow Brothers and Sisters make this world a sicker place because they did not get what they wanted and I know I’ve been there with them from time to time. A challenge to all of us…let’s let the Light of Christ shine through each of us no matter what happens in this world and let’s make this world healthier each and every day.

Spunky Little Irishman

I was walking through the streets of Dundee, Scotland one day, on my way to a Bible Study with a spunky Irishman named Arthur, when I realized that I was walking alone in one of the most dangerous parts of the city. Even though I stood out because I was an American I calmed myself because it was the middle of the day and surly bad things only happen at night right? I looked down a street as I trudged onward and saw a guy walking a few blocks away. It was at this point that I saw a mob of guys come out of the alley and beat him with bats, take his wallet and leave him for dead. I hurried my pace fearing for my life and eventually made it safely to my Bible Study with Arthur.

Studies with Arthur were always interesting. When I walked in he could tell I was troubled and asked if everything was ok. I simply told him I had a headache to which he offered me a beer. Like I said…meetings with Arthur were always interesting. We always studied what he wanted to study and this particular day he wanted to read Luke 10:25-37…The Parable of the Good Samaritan. I started to feel sick as we read through it in our group. My mind was racing. What could I have done for that guy? I even justified to myself while I walked on that I was late for a Bible Study with a spunky Irishman named Arthur. I’m thousands of miles away from my family. What if they jumped me and I died? I’ve got a long life to live. I just walked on hoping to make it to Arthurs soon.

This ate at me all day and still brings me to tears. For the first time in my life, one of Jesus’ parables played out in a very real way and I failed miserably. I remember hearing these stories in youth group and being asked which character I would be. I would always answer the correct answer because that is what an “expert in the law” does.

When Jesus said the things that He said, did He really mean them? The expert in the law in this passage answered Jesus correctly but did he walk away thinking, “I don’t think Jesus really meant that.” Jesus calls us to be the Samaritan who cared. He calls us to be the Prostitute who washes his feet. He calls us to pick up our cross and follow Him. He doesn’t really mean to make us uncomfortable does He? Does He really want our lives to be in danger in order to show Him in very real ways to the people of this world? God spoke to me through a spunky little Irishman named Arthur that day…and I think He said, “Yes!”

Who Are You?

At a Youth Ministry conference I was at back in January, one of the speakers said something that has been very challenging for me. “You need to know who you are outside of being a minister,” is the comment that I’ve been struggling with for the past seven months. Ministry is my life. There isn’t much more to it than that. I began to have a better understanding when I was hiking on the Appalachian Trail. When you’re on the trail you are just a hiker. No one asks you who you are or what your vocation is. It isn’t often that I get to set “who I am” aside and just be Ryan.

We consume ourselves with identity and live accordingly. We are…doctors, nurses, teachers, students, retired, salesmen, etc. We get to a point that we cannot really see ourselves as anything else. What we do becomes our identity. There is a great need in our lives to be recognized as Children of God…to find our identity as Children. I can only speculate what life would be like if we were to fully embrace our identity as Children as our full identity…and then find ourselves working our jobs within the realm of this identity.

One of my favorite stories in British history is the story of King Canute the Great. His Nobles and Officers often praised how great he was. They showered him with praise so much that Canute grew tired of their foolish speeches. One day he was by the seashore, and his officers and nobles were with him…continuing to shower him with praise. He had them bring his throne to the waters edge. As he sat down he asked them, “Am I the greatest man in the world?” They called out, “Yes! There is no one as mighty as you.” He did this for a while to the point where he looked out at the water and cried out, “Sea, I command you to come no farther! Waves, stop your rolling, and do not dare to touch my feet!"

The tide came in as it always did. Water rising higher and higher till it came up around King Canute’s throne…wetting not only his feet but his robe as well. He then stood up, taking off his crown, he walked over to the sanctuary and laid it at the feet of Jesus on the cross. He turned to his nobles and officers and said, “I will never wear this crown again. There is only one King who is all-powerful. He is who shall be praised above all others.”

In order to know who I am outside of being a minister, I must lay that crown down at the feet of Jesus. Jesus challenges us to take up our cross and die to ourselves. Ultimately we must remove the crown of our identity and be identified as Children of God. We then look to God and say, “Where do you need me in your Kingdom?” He will make you whatever He needs you to be.

Walk This Way

Growing up I’m sure we’ve all looked at the Bible and said, “Why all the rules?” The reality is...a lot of us still ask this question. It is the basic question the world asks us. Does Jesus simply not want us to have any fun? Is the grumpy old man in the sky upset by us feeling good and enjoying life? The questions could get worse I guess…but we’ll leave it where it is. I feel like there is something more than just an exchange of Old Testament Rules for New Testament Rules.

In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” He then spends the next bit of time turning the world of Jewish thought on its head and calls us not to be rule followers but to be Salt and Light in this bland and broken world. He says, “Walk This Way.”

Before Jesus ever says anything about “Walk This Way” He gives a quick glimpse of what it looks like to be Children of God in this broken world. He gives us the Beatitudes. This past weekend, eight Youth Ministers and 250 teens from all over the Carolinas explored what it means to “Walk This Way” in terms of what Jesus calls us to through the Beatitudes. The weekend retreat at the beach was incredible…even if it was in the 60’s and rainy. One of the greatest things in youth ministry is to see this many teens get together to worship God. His Spirit filled the whole weekend. The teens were challenged to the deeper life that Jesus calls us to through the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount…simply…they were challenged to “Walk This Way!”

Talk to someone who was there. Find out where they were encouraged to grow. Ask where God spurred them in their Walk. The challenge for you now is to pick up Matthew 5-7 and let Jesus’ Words mold you into a deeper way of living. Let Jesus teach you to be Salt and Light. Let Jesus show you how to “Walk This Way!”

Where Is Your Stone

I am a fan of rocks…let’s face it…they rock! Ok…I know…really bad joke. Hear me out anyway. I never really like learning about them in school but I am fascinated by them. How can a huge bolder just sit there the way it is? How does it then become a tiny pebble? Some are jagged. Some are made for kids with short attention spans…they sparkle! Some are smooth…these are the ones that intrigue me the most. How does a coarse stone become pure smooth like that?

At our “Walk This Way” Beatitudes retreat this weekend I was given the topic “Blessed are the pure in heart” to speak about Saturday night. I started looking at the heart as if it were a stone that needed to be made smooth. What would it be like to try and smooth a rock with your hands? Would it be possible? Even if you were able to get one area smooth would you accomplish pure smoothness?

The Pharisees constantly tried to smooth themselves out through “Righteous Living” and completely missed the point of why the Law was put in place in the first place. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls His followers to a deeper way of living. The way of a transformed heart. When you might pat yourself on the back and say, “Look at how righteous I am…I haven’t killed anyone all day,” Jesus says, “How is your anger?” He makes you go deeper into your existence and look at the heart of the matter in all things. “You say don’t commit adultery. I say don’t look lustfully on a woman.” It isn’t just about your action but about the center of your being…your heart!

Time for reality…YOU CAN’T DO IT! That is hard to swallow but you can’t. Paul in Romans 7 talks about his struggle with the Law and cries out in verse 24, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Then answers in the next verse, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” It is Jesus who transforms our jagged hearts into the pure heart that we’ve been called to. But how does this happen? (Stop and read Roman 8:1-17…it’ll change your life)

Jesus promises the woman at the well, in John 4, “Living Water” and then a few chapters later in John 7:38 He says, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” And again in Revelation 7:17 “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water.”

Jesus calls us to take our stones and throw them in the river of Living Water to let His current run over them every day. He calls us to immerse our stones…to baptize our hearts in His Living Water and let His Word, His Spirit, His current smooth out and make pure our rough hearts. Where is your stone? In your hand or in the River?

GPS

All throughout the Bible…especially in the Jewish mindset…God is never explained by who He is but by what He does or what He is like. From time to time we see something and it makes us think about God. We see a father throwing his kid in the air with joy. A mother consoling her child. In an old woman’s eyes. In nature. The stars. The ocean. His reminder is all around us.

One of my favorite things is when God reveals Himself in the oddest of places. I’ve had a GPS (Global Positioning System) in my car for almost a year now and it has been an interesting trip figuring it out. When you set your destination, the GPS provides you a map with a purple line that you simply follow. What happens often is that you get distracted and miss a turn. What the GPS then does is changes your course giving you new direction to get to your destination. Sometimes it simply tells you to turn around and get back on the right path.

What I love so much about God is that when you take a wrong turn in your life He says, “I can work with this” and then gives us new direction to get from where we are to our Destination. When you look through the story of Israel you see this happen over and over again. God has a destination for them but they always want to go another direction. Abraham and Sarah were promised a son but they were tired of waiting so Abraham had Ishmael with Hagar. God said He would work with it. All through the story of Israel you find mess up after mess up and God continued to work with them to bring them to their destination.

“Make a U-Turn as soon as possible…” my GPS will shout at me over and over and over again. There is simply no other way but to turn around and go back to the last turn you missed. Sometimes we make such a bad turn that God has to simply turn us around. Israel spent so much time in the wilderness learning a relationship with God and when they finally made it to the Promise Land…they made a wrong turn. God’s response? “Make a U-Turn as soon as possible!” They had to go back to the wilderness to find their direction again.

Listen to God and see where He is guiding you where you are right now. Follow Him. When you miss a turn…look for the next one He brings you to. He’ll take you to your destination…Heaven.

Jesus Be My Guide

Every year we do a Family White Water Rafting Trip on the Nantahala River (this year being my third since I’ve been here). With my love for adventure and the outdoors, I look forward to this trip each year. It is a great weekend of family, fellowship, fun, adventure…and as always…“injuries make memories” which has more or less become an unspoken motto for the Nantahala Trip. This year we had a great time with record numbers and many visitors (110 total I believe with 86 rafting).

The two rafts I took down the river were two of the best rafts I have ever had the pleasure of guiding. I was thinking back as to why those rafts…at the average age of 13…did so well. Unity. Unity was key in those rafts doing well. Before ever getting in the water they were given one simple instruction…paddle together.

Every once in a while someone would ask, “Are we going right or left?” and the response from Philip Travis and I would be, “You paddle…we will guide.” I heard another guide talk about their group and he said that when he said that they were going to the right someone said they wanted to go left and started paddling against everyone else. Needless to say…they got stuck on a rock. Sunday morning we talked a lot about fellowship, unity, and Jerry challenged us to let Jesus be our River Guide.

The more I thought about that the more I thought about the boats I had the privilege to guide. Life is a lot easier when we just keep paddling with everyone else and let Jesus be our guide. We may not all look the same in the way we paddle but we can all paddle in the same direction.
Hebrews 10:23-25 says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Why We Gather

While at home, a good friend gave me the book, "Evil and the Justice of God" by N.T. Wright. He said I’d like it so he wanted me to have it. After a few weeks I finally picked it up and read it in about six days because I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend picking it up and reading it for yourself. There are a number of things I could share from this book but I want to focus on one thought that really has hit me this week while reading…

The Gospels do not offer any kind of philosophical explanation of evil, what it is or why it is there, nor do they give any suggestion for how we might change our lives so that evil might mysteriously disappear from the world. What the Gospels give us is the story of an event in which the Living God deals with evil. The cross is God’s eternal “no” to the problem of sin. Often we look at the world in terms of Good and Evil…us being “Good” and them being “Evil” but what one must realize is that the line between good and evil runs through the middle of me…of every one of us…and it is in this that the Gospels proclaim that the death of Jesus is “for me,” in my place and on my behalf. This is where the personal meaning of the cross becomes very clear…that there will be a time when I, the greatest of sinners, will be totally sinless, when God has completed the work of grace within me!

When we gather around the LORD’s Table we are reminded of this. At the supper the King shares His life with His friends, more particularly, solemnly makes them the beneficiaries of His kingdom-bringing death. What was accomplished in His death and resurrection, according to the early Christians, is the foundation, the model, and the guarantee of God’s ultimate purpose…which is to rid the world of evil altogether and to establish His new creation of justice, beauty, and peace. Every time we come together around the table we are reminded of what we are here for. That we are taking part in the death that must take place for us to stand sinless before God and that our purpose is to rid the world of sin through introducing them to the Creator who wants them back.

Focus on the Light

I was sitting in a little office with my cute little blue hairnet on answering questions and cracking jokes about the possibility of my eyes getting bigger after my surgery when I was called into the next room. The nurse looked up at me, smiled and said, “Just look at the light” and handed me a little blue pill. Looking at a little light seemed like a simple thing to do so I went on with things.

After some tests I walked into a room filled with white-masked people whose eyes were smiling as they told me to lie down. The doctor kept repeating those same words to me as he informed me everything that was going on. “Just keep looking at the light” was all I had to do…what is this tape their putting on me…no just look at the light. This liquid feels funny…I can’t feel anything but I’m looking at the light…Is this sucking on my eye…its ok…focus on the light…that sure is an interesting brush touching my eye ball…then the light got dim…that’s when the lightning show started inside my eye…here comes the cold fluid and now I can see the light more clearly again…That wasn’t all that bad…Just kept looking at the light.

That was the first eye…then the valium kicked in and it was even harder to focus on the light. It really seemed like the light kept moving around on me the second time and I had to be reminded more often to keep focusing on the light. The reality is that the light stayed in the same place…I just kept getting distracted by all the little things coming into my view…and it didn’t help that I was a little more relaxed the second time.

The truth is that I find this to be true in my life on a regular basis. It seems so easy…Just look at the light. Nothing about getting distracted by all the things that come into view seem to have any benefit to my life at all yet distraction comes easily. Jesus said in John 8:12, “I AM the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” As distraction comes easily to each of us, let us encourage one another to “Just look at the Light” and everything will come out clear in the end.

Let's Be Conservative!

One of the hottest topics in the Bible Department back in College was the topic of whom or which group was deemed “Liberal.” I didn’t like it…it irritated me. When asked, I’d give a smartelic response like, “I’m a conservative liberal” or “I’m liberally conservative.” I’ve never liked the game much…the finger pointing that is. I was once called a liberal because my hair was long and I’ve been called a conservative because I didn’t clap (mostly because I can’t ever find the beat). I could never figure out what the guidelines were for my Christianity. From what I could see through experiences with people in college, you were labeled one way or the other based on an individuals “centering view.”

I don’t know why but this topic has been on my mind a lot over the past month. The hot topic in American churches are whether or not you are liberal or conservative so I thought I’d try and define it for myself so I can better answer people when they ask. I decided to look up the definition of “Liberal” to give me a good starting point. The best definition I could find for being liberal means, “to give less emphasis on the literal interpretation of Scripture.”

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment in the Law was, He replied, “Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. And the second greatest is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:36-40). In a way…Jesus would define conservative and liberal based on this command. We’ve been called to Love God and Love Others. If you are fulfilling that…consider yourself a conservative. If you are not…you are a liberal.

Youth Groups are often slapped with a big “L” in the brotherhood. A close eye is kept on Youth Ministries and their liberal antics. In the last month I’ve seen the teens I’ve been blessed to work with, act more conservatively than many Christian groups I’ve encountered. In the last month these teens have: built three houses, distributed 10 soccer balls to kids who have nothing, give out enough food to feed 1800 people for 2-3 weeks in Honduras, sort clothes in Charlotte that will clothe families for years to come, organize food that will feed the starving in the Charlotte area, hug the lonely, play with needy children, and much much more. I am proud of how conservative your teens are. They have taught me a lot about what is means to Love God and Love others.

It is easy to be conservative when you are on a mission trip or at workcamp. My fear is that we will become liberals when we run into someone on the street, when one of our own gets pregnant out of wedlock, or do nothing but slander our brothers and sisters because they have a different ideal than we do. Let’s be conservative in whatever we do for the least of these brothers of mine.