A few years ago, my friend Rick was on a plane loaded to the wing flaps with hazardous cargo.
It was hauling a bunch of preachers to a convention.
Rick was in his best never-met-a-stranger form, and he was trolling up and down the aisle introducing himself.
“Are you a pastor?”
“Where are you from?”
He’d chat for a while and move on. And the more he moved, the more the passengers paid attention.
Finally he reached one row and asked a well-dressed man, “You look like a pastor. Where are you from?”
“I’m not,” the man replied in a louder-than-usual voice. “I’ve just been sick for a few days.”
The whole plane erupted with laughter. [click to continue…]
On the Steps of the Temple
Have you ever felt as though you had been shoved out of your nest, or your comfort zone?
And that God was doing the shoving?
Have you ever been forced to move, had some people removed from your life that you depended on, or taken away from a comfortable church or home situation?
Maybe He was teaching you something you may not have learned any other way. Maybe He was placing you in a strategic spot to be greatly used by Him – as improbable as that might feel. Maybe, just maybe, He was taking something dead and bringing it to life… or putting something to death that needed to die.
Maybe He was taking you from “living stoned” to “living stone.”
One of my favorite places in Israel is the steps of the Temple, where Peter most likely preached on the Day of Pentecost. There behind the cleansing pools and in front of what was then the main entrance to this massive building, Peter declared that the stone had been rolled away, and that Jesus Christ was alive. Thousands of people responded to his message.
That was then.
“Now” was a lot uglier. [click to continue…]
Ever have this happen in school? You study most of the night for your 8:00 history class. You’re ready with the names, dates, big themes and theories. You show up loaded for historic bear… only to discover your history exam isn’t until next week.
Meanwhile, in your 9:00 chemistry class…
Oh… crap… Tell me I didn’t just study for the wrong test.
I did. And maybe you have, too.
You see, for years I’ve been studying for the Midterm Patience Exam. It’s become something of a byword in Christian circles, if not a bad joke: [click to continue…]
Your most trusted employee visits your email inbox with a request for a meeting. When you find the time to get together, he discloses to you that he has a substance abuse problem that requires in-house treatment. Upon further review, you discover that his abuse took place on more than one occasion while on the job – a fireable offense. This is his first sign of trouble. What do you do?
Your teenage daughter is at a friend’s house for a sleepover; you know the friend and are at least familiar with the friend’s parents. You’re awakened at 1:20 a.m. by your daughter asking you to bail her out of jail. The charge: drunk driving. This is the second time you have caught her drinking, but the first time you have had any evidence of drinking and driving. How do you respond?
Your youth pastor has been rumored or accused of inappropriate relationships with girls in his youth groups – one former, one current – which he vehemently denies. He explains that he was just showing Christian concern for someone who had been abused or hurt in the past, and his kindness was misinterpreted. Nevertheless, Scripture is clear that there shouldn’t even be a hint of immorality or impurity among God’s people, and particularly leaders. The youth pastor is very popular among the students, but has his critics among your adults. Keeping him could leave you liable to a lawsuit or public accusation; firing him could decimate your youth group. What do you do? [click to continue…]
(Here’s a parable that didn’t quite make it to the Bible. It’s a follow-up to the story of the Prodigal Son. In case you missed that first episode, you can find it by clicking here.)
When last we heard from the Prodigal Son, his loving father, and his older brother, Dad was appealing to the older sibling to come join the party.
“All that I have is yours,” he was saying – which was technically true, since the younger brat had wasted all of his part of the inheritance.
By and by, life settled down. The older brother continued to do well, and was admired by all for his performance. The younger son got with the program – for the most part. Occasionally his friends and family could see some of those old streaks of self-will-run-riot in him. But for the most part, he lived in great gratitude for his father’s forgiveness and restoration. [click to continue…]
Yesterday I was talking to an old friend on the phone, and heard myself say something before I realized what I was saying. (Does that ever happen to you, or am I just weird?)
Before I tell you what I said, I guess I need to fill in some white space first.
A few days ago I had an experience that left me disappointed and hurt. The details aren’t important; what is important is what happened in my heart as a result of it. I will tell you that it was a church wound (one of the most difficult of all), and that I had similar initial feelings to other kinds of pain in my life. I wanted to go into a cave and hide. I was fearful of being hurt again. I wanted to be angry and pout.
But almost immediately, I noticed another kind of result in my spirit. I was sobered. Humbled. Unusually aware of the holiness, wisdom, and love of God. Emotionally and mentally aware that God is no man, that I can fool, manipulate, or even impress Him. Even more aware that neither I nor any man can despise the profound work of grace He has made in my life.
And regardless of how any of us behave, He still owns His church. I can sit on my high horse or hide in my cave all I want, but at the end of the day, He is still God, and still expects me to reflect His character and power. And He will even use busybodies, gossips, accusers and politickers in Church World to make His case.
Ouch.
I don’t know that I have ever been in a painful situation in which I was more aware of the awareness of God. And if I may say so, even in the pain, I felt safe and loved.
Here is what I said to my friend, after I filled in some details: [click to continue…]
In the course of this short year so far, I have been reminded suddenly, and sometimes rudely, how short life can be, and how there are no guarantees of the things or people we tend to take for granted in this world.
I have also been reminded that life is filled with the potential to make mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes arise out of misguided values. Sometimes out of boneheaded stubbornness. Sometimes mistakes arise out of good things taken too far in self-serving directions. Often those mistakes come when we lose our sense of balance.
I’ve thought a lot lately about how short life is, and frankly, sometimes how much shorter that I wish it could be. Hillsong United’s “Soon” sure sounds appealing: [click to continue…]
I have a friend who used to say, every time somebody asked how he was, “It’s a good day to be dead.”
No, he was not a Klingon, or a descendent of Crazy Horse. He was actually referring to one of the most revolutionary truths in the Christian life. And truth be told, he wouldn’t just stop with the whole dead thing. He’d say, “It’s a good day to be dead, and alive in Christ.”
The truth to which he was referring is expressed most succinctly in Galatians 2:20. Here’s how the New Century Version translates it:
I was put to death on the cross with Christ, and I do not live anymore — it is Christ who lives in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself to save me.
The implications of Paul’s simple declaration are profound. It tells me what I have received in order to live victoriously in this life, and to fulfill my purpose for which God created me and saved me.
I have received the life of Christ (“Christ lives in me”).
I have received Christ’s faith (“the faith of the Son of God” – a possible translation).
And I have received Christ’s self-giving love.
There is no situation, no bondage, no need for transformation, no frustration, no failure that the life, the love, and the faith of Jesus in me cannot respond to with power. And the same is true for you, assuming you have trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior.
So how, then, do we apply this truth? [click to continue…]
Inspired by an analogy I heard from my friend Bill at lunch yesterday…
Let’s say you’re a camp counselor. And on this day you’ve loaded up 45 nine- and ten-year-olds on the bus for an outing. Everybody’s had a great time as you have taken them into the city or to the beach… picture you own favorite locale for a gang of kids to have a blast.
Now it’s time to head back to the camp. So you load ‘em up and move ‘em out.
That’s when it hits you. You forgot the first rule of kids-on-the-bus management.
Yep. You forgot to count heads.
Forty-one. Forty-two. Forty-three. Forty-uh oh.
It’s every kid herder’s worst fear. You’ve left somebody behind. He’s lost.
So what do you do? [click to continue…]
Riley and Rusty and a Closed Door
It all started a few weeks ago when I noticed something about Gracie, my dog wannabe. As the house queen in her own eyes, Gracie likes to keep her options open. In other words, she can’t stand closed doors. Any closed door. It’s not so much that she wants or needs what’s on the other side. She just likes having options.
And so do I.
I love opportunities and the capacity to dream. And get frustrated when a door closes in my face, or somewhere else.
All that led to a half-baked observation a couple of weeks ago: “Even my dog hates closed doors.”
And that led to a well-thought-out meditation from my sister Debbie Hughes about dogs, doors, and why and how we (people, that is) experience them.
So if you’ve had your share of frustrations or disappointments, keep reading… this is from her, for you: [click to continue…]
A few years ago, my friend Rick was on a plane loaded to the wing flaps with hazardous cargo.
