Where's the Love?

How important is friendship to you?

I don't know if you have every spent any time around drunk people. There are some mean drunks out there to be sure, but there are also some really loving drunks. Have you ever had the experience of an intoxicated fellow leaning on your shoulder and breathing out through his stench of breath the words of his undying love? "I love you man...no i really do!" On the opposite side have you ever walked into a church lobby and gotten nothing more than an evil eye and wondered if you were dressed correctly or if you had toilet paper stuck to your shoe? Why is it the most intoxicated are sometimes more loving than the most righteous?

I wonder sometimes if we are so concerned with the theology of the issue and finding the right answer to describe the difficult situation with which we are faced we forget the person in the middle of the situation. In Job 17, Job is asking God to put up the security for him in court because he friends don't seem to have any support for him. Even though Job has just said repeatedly, God is causing this suffering to him. He still finds more support from his "attacker" than from his friends. He even goes so far as to say those who betray their friends leave a legacy of abuse for their children (the message).

What kind of legacy are we leaving for our children? What kind of example do we set if we the righteous church folk great people with looks of judgment, when we great each other with these looks. And it goes both ways, I don't find myself judging the less than appropriate who walk through the doors of the church, but I sure do find myself judging those who are judging them. Its like saying I'm racist against racists.

I would much rather have my daughter see me greeting people with, "I love you man...I really do!" My hope would be I wouldn't have to be drunk in order to do that.

May we offer friendship rather than analysis and condemnation, may we build one another up in love. And may our children see our love and do likewise as our legacy.

Behind the curtain

How many times do we only look at the surface and assume?

Do you remember the first time you saw the wizard of Oz? Me neither, but I do have this impression in my mind of the fiery floating green head of the wizard with the booming voice and all. And I remember little Toto pulling back the curtain to reveal the little nervous man behind it. When I was in seminary I did a cultural exegesis paper on the movie Constantine with Keanu Reeves. At one point in the movie Keanu goes into Hell. What hell ends up being is just a different dimensional view of the earth. As he looks over the streets of LA the same buildings and palm trees are there but there are burning and falling apart. While I don't believe in ever burning hell and I don't believe anyone is burning as we speak, there was a certain ring of truth to this unveiling.

In Job 16, job cries says his adversary has sharpened his eyes against me he is gnashing him with his teeth and made him desolate. The typical translation shows Job's words as they are with no interpretation and it seems God is the one Job is blaming for all of these things happening to him. And really this is what Job is doing, he sees God as sovereign and responsible for what is happening. But is was very interesting when I read the amplified version. The translator seems to pull back the curtain and let us see what is happening behind the scenes. Let me show you the comparison.

Job 16:7 (ESV) Surely now God has worn me out;he has made desolate all my company.8 And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me, and my leanness has risen up against me; it testifies to my face. 9 He has torn me in his wrath and hated me;
he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me. 10 Men have gaped at me with their mouth; they have pstruck me insolently on the cheek; they mass themselves together against me. 11 God gives me up to the ungodly
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.

Job 16:7 (Amplified) 7But now [God] has taken away my strength. You [O Lord] have made desolate all my family and associates. 8You have laid firm hold on me and have shriveled me up, which is a witness against me; and my leanness [and wretched state of body] are further evidence [against me]; [they] testify to my face. 9[[a]My adversary Satan] has torn [me] in his wrath and hated and persecuted me; he has gnashed upon me with his teeth; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me. 10[The forces of evil] have gaped at me with their mouths; they have struck me upon the cheek insolently; they massed themselves together and conspired unanimously against me.(A) 11God has delivered me to the ungodly (to the evil one) and cast me [headlong] into the hands of the wicked (Satan's host).

While I think the translator took some interpretive liberty with the language he has effectively pulled back the curtain on what is really happening. We know this because of the context at the beginning of the book and theology from the rest of scripture. Sure enough the Devil is the one afflicting Job. The accuser of the brethren is the devil. He is the prosecuting attorney on the case. This is what the Devil does.

How often do we forget this? How often to we look at our lives and say, well I guess today just isn't a lucky day. Or we get into the pain of life and blame ourselves and our mistakes or the sin of others. But if we could remember to pull back the curtain we would see the dimension of the spiritual battle going on around us. "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn't exist."

The good news though is the devil isn't the only one behind the spiritual veil. In the end of Chap 16 Job cries out for an advocate with the Father. He wants his defense lawyer in this court. When the curtain is pulled back we also get to see Jesus our advocate in heaven, our intercessor, our high priest. Evil is not the only power playing behind the curtain. Jesus is there. The holy angels of God are there waging war with us and for us. Fight for us today God of the angel armies!!!

May our eyes be opened today to the scene behind the curtain and see the evil we so often ignore and blame each other for and even more so the God who fights for us, who defends us, protects us, and sustains us. Jesus has already won the war so now he sustains us through the battle seeking to rescue as many as possible until the day comes when he will deliver us and vanquish evil for good.

Humanity and Rightous - oxymoron?

Have you ever felt how light righteousness really is?

It was a beautiful sunny day and my family was at the beach. I don't remember for sure how old I was maybe 9 or 10. It was the first time I had ever been boogie boarding. I was so stoked. One of my mom's cousins had a miniature surfboard and I got to use it instead of those cheesey foam boogie boards everyone else had to use. I was having the time of my life catching waves and riding them in on my stomach. Then something happened that I will never forget. I was headed back out into the waves and a bigger wave was coming in. I didn't know how to dive under the wave and I wasn't in the right place to catch it and ride it in. So for the first time I experienced undertow and just how hard a wave can slam you into the sand. I thought I might not make it. I scrambled to the top of the water after having the wind knocked out of me and sand ground into my chest. The problem was as soon as I got the top and caught a breath the next wave was crashing down and I was thrown back against the sandy bottom for the second time. Now I was really scared I wouldn't be able to get out.

The weight of the water was immense. But it is nothing compared to the weight of being a sinner on my heart and mind. In Job 15 another "wonderful" friend of Job speaks up to tell Job once again there is no way he can be righteous before God. There is no way man can ever stand before God as righteous, if God didn't consider the holy ones of heaven righteous enough, how can we even think he would look at a man that way. Job you must give up this talk of being blameless before the Lord. You must realize all of the weight of this hardship being piled upon your shoulders is because of your sin. Wake up Job and repent.

Job as a human being lives under the decision of Adam and sin is part of his life. The bible tells us all have fallen short of the glory of God. We all have sinned, Job has sinned. But Job actively participated in the story of redemption. We know from the beginning of the book he offered sacrifices for himself and his children. This was all the people before Jesus' sacrifice had. They repented on the head of the lambs and goats and they were forgiven. Job was forgiven and by the blood of Jesus foreshadowed by the blood of the lamb Job was righteous before the Lord.

How many times have we stepped into the pulpit or sat down at a bible study and echoed the words of job's friend. You are human, you are sinful, you will forever be a sinner, you must repent. We need to repent, we need forgiveness for our sins. We need to fall at the foot of the cross and accept Jesus as our savior. But we don't need to stay there. Jesus didn't stay on the cross, he didn't stay in the grave. He was resurrected to new life. And we are to do the same. To quote John Eldredge the greatest lie in the church today is that we are only sinners saved by grace. It is true we are, but we are so much more. We are new creations in Christ.

Job was no longer a sinner, he was a new creation in Christ. He was a child of God, he was a righteous man standing before a righteous God. Paul doesn't greet the people in his letters "to the sinners in Galatia write." He greets them as SAINTS!!!

Do we still struggle with sin? Yes. Do we need to die daily? Yes. But as Paul says in Romans it is no longer us who sins but the sin that lives within us. We are no longer sinners, its not our identity anymore. We are saints in Christ. Paul also says it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives within me. True we can not take credit for being righteous in any way. Jesus did it all for us he trades his life for ours. But HE DID IT!!! In Christ we are saints we are new creations! Our name is no longer sinner, IT IS CHRISTIAN!

Can you feel the weight lift off of you shoulders? Can you feel the force of the pounding waves of condemnation finally release?

If there are any preachers out there reading this blog today. I want to encourage you to stop calling yourselves sinners from the pulpit unless you have not repented. If you have repented and accepted the blood of Jesus then your identity has changed. Every time you get up there and do not claim your new identity in Christ you are heaping the weight of condemnation on your congregation. The scripture is clear there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

So if you still believe you are only a sinner saved by grace...STOP IT! You are a new creation in Christ and there is freedom and a burden to be lifted from you and those who listen to you!

May you find the weight of the waves of condemnation lifted from your soul today!

The Creation of His Hands

Do you know God's longing for you?

Lorelai and I were sitting on the couch this afternoon watching the new toy story, which is really well done by the way. Lorelai is a restless movie watcher as children should be. She changes position from time to time. At one point she was sitting on my lap absent mindedly sucking one of her thumbs and the other hand was matching mine finger tip to finger tip. Her sweet little hand measured opposed to my large one. It was one of those sweet moments of longing. One of those moments when I am so glad to be a father and to have this little creation of mine sitting in my lap.

Chapter 14 of Job brings forward Jobs despair of life, but not eternal life. He desires for this life to be over. Convinced God is the one bringing all of this trial and suffering on him, Job asks God to let him be hidden away in the grave. A tree might be cut down but if the rains come it can spring up shoots of new life. This is not so with man he lies in the grave. At first glimpse I though perhaps Job didn't believe in the resurrection, but the chapter goes on to point out he very clearly does. He asks God to lay him in the grave and forget about him until the time when all his sin is bound up in a bag and forgotten, when sin is done. Then Job says God will long for the creation of his hands.

Have you ever thought about this before? God longing for us? I got just a glimpse of that with Lorelai lying right there in my lap hand in hand. I can't imagine the longing God has for the creation of his hands being separated from them for all of these years. Given this I can also imagine the pain the heavenly Father is feeling as the creation of his hands, his child Job cries out for God not to think of him and to leave him in peace. And yet perhaps he sees Job reaching up his small hand trying to compare his infinitely small hand to the immense hand of the creator. Stretching out his small understanding to try and understand the plan God has in mind with all of this.

I think of the smallness of Lorelai's hand in mine and I think of the little bit of understanding I have compared to God's knowledge and infinite wisdom in knowing me and the plan for my life. God's knowledge of the plan of history and when the time will come for him to raise up the dry stump of humanity once again restoring us to life.

My prayer today it that I might reach up to my father in heaven and he would have a tender moment of longing for me as I had for Lorelai today sitting on my lap. My you stretch out your hand today and find the heart of a creator longing for the creation of his hands.

The Scruff of the Neck

Does making a decision for Christ at an early age really help?

My sophomore year in college I was in a world of confusion when it came to my relationship with God. I was leading - co-directing a christian drama group going around to different churches to perform and share the message of the gospel in a memorable and dramatic way. I was turning my radio tuning more and more to a christian station on a daily basis. I was attending a small group from time to time. On the other side, I wasn't sure about the existence of God or at least his involvement in my life which largely came from my desire to continue in my addiction of pornography and sleeping with my girlfriend at the time. If God didn't exist, then I can do whatever I want as much as I want to.

I took a trip on spring break to visit some friends in Oregon. This trip was the epitome of my two sided life. I was driving down the road fantasizing about hooking up with a girl at some gas station who I would never see again and not sure if I even wanted to come back to school. At the same time I was praying God would somehow use me to reach out to my friends I was going to see. And here is the kicker, I had submitted an application to join a traveling youth ministry team for the next year of my life. So while I'm in this massive lust spiral I am still looking for the opportunity of sharing Christ with others.

In the middle of this trip which included camping with friends who rolled their own cigarettes, target practice with 22s, life change stories shared around the campfire, and naively walking out of a store in which my friends had used their five finger discount. I get a call from the director of the ministry. Cory, he says, You're in I will see you in June. God was there the whole time watching me. He let me go so far, and then I feel like he grabbed me by the back of the collar and said, "that's far enough come on back now I have a job for you to do."

In Job 12 through the midst of his lament, Job affirms the sovereignty of God. God is the one who takes of shackles put on by kings, He leads priest away stripped and overthrows men long established. He makes nations great, and destroys them. In other words God is in charge and there is really nothing we can do about it. At least not in the outward circumstances. We can choose to reject his plan with in our hearts or to accept it.

I was baptized at 13 and I knew then I wanted to follow God. God took me at my word and at my vow even though I didn't know what was coming next. He kept a close eye on me when I wasn't sure if he was even around. When I was leaning out over the edge of the cliff he pulled me back on and gave me the opportunity to turn back around. It was still my choice what I was going to do with it. But he set it up for me and brought me back.

I am glad God is sovereign in my life, I don't know where I would have been without him but I got a good look over the cliff. He pulled me back again just last night. I was getting ready to take the plunge in to mediocrity and maintenance mode here in my church. But God caught me by the back of the neck once again and I was tipping forward and reminded me through a wonderful new mentor - get back your fire, your passion, your vision. You can do this.

May God grab you by the back of the neck today and keep you from falling, because...well...he promised to.

What do we know?

Have you ever cautioned someone else on explaining the mystery of God and then done so yourself? Well here I go.

My daughter and I have been having an argument the last couple of days. She is four and she learned at pre-school about deciduous trees. She is claiming her teacher told her the trees with needles are the deciduous ones and the ones with leaves are not. I have been trying to get through to her the concept the trees with needles are evergreens - see it even has green in its name. Look outside and see which trees are still green. She is convinced she is right and I am wrong or "just joking dad." She firmly believes what she has gotten into her head and it not letting it rest. Every time we get in the car and she sees an evergreen she points to it and says,"that one is deciduous."

Have you ever gotten so sure of something only to find out you are way off base, or really had no idea of the complexities you were trying to speak to. In Job 11 Zophar just sets himself up. He tells Job the depths of God are too deep for us and the heights of God are to high for us. We can't really understand him. And then he goes on to explain with perfect clarity what Job needs to do in relationship to his sin and this God no man can understand.

How many times have we done this? We explain some truth about God and find our we were just way off base. Zophar tells Job if he would just cast his sin aside and not let any sin dwell in his house then he would be able to stand again. Then he would be able to have hope again by some self produced righteousness. The problem is we know from the beginning of the book, Job is considered righteous in God's eyes. It is not his sin bringing down this suffering. Zophar has no idea what he is talking about.

I pray today we would be open to what God has to teach us about the mysteries of himself. There are things he has revealed to us in his word. Things we can place of feet on. If we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We can not put away our sin all on our own, we need a savior without him there is no hope. Christ is our righteousness, Christ is our savior, and Christ is our hope.

May God teach us today of himself, and may we open our minds and hearts to listen because he might just change our minds from deciduous to evergreens.

Undying love or bitterness?

Has life given up on you or have you given up on life?

You know the scene in the disaster movie when life on the planet is about to end. The characters move towards each other and confess their undying love to the person who they have held their feelings back from for years. “I just wanted you to know before we die, I love you, I always have loved you.” Or vows are recommitted between a couple, they well always love each other, they will never forget the other. As cheesy as this is, “I’ll ever let go Rose!” It still seems to tug at our heart strings. When we know life is about to end we are brought to the understanding of the importance of relationships. We reach out, we reconcile, we recommit to one another.

Contrast this to when we have given up on life before life is about to give up on us. Instead of love and reaching out, instead of coming together and reconciling we push others away. Instead of the desire and flow of love we let the words pour from the bitterness of our hearts. Job 9 & 10 are the pouring of a man’s heart as he has given up on live. The first verse of chap 10 is Job telling us he has no concern for his life, he has given up on being alive so he will let his complaint pour freely from the bitterness of his heart.

Have you ever been accosted by the bitterness of someone? The words shared are so bitter and hurtful. Perhaps the person questions you as a person, your integrity, even the call God has placed on your life. I remember a phone call like that a couple of years ago. A parent was very up set about a situation with their child and I was the one who received the full force of their anger. I have to confess I didn’t respond well and I got defensive. I made my apologies and after a time so did the parent. I remember a school newspaper railing against a ministry team I was a part of in College. We came to find out later the writer of these articles was a student who was very bitter at God and her own church experience.

If you have harsh words coming towards you today, I invite you into the possibly stressful situation of listening for the pain lying beneath the bitterness. This very possibly is someone who has given up on some part of their life. If we are the right ones to listen through their anger and bitterness we might just find out what the source of the pain is underneath and who knows perhaps God can use us to bring healing to this bitterness.

May we remember bitterness and bitter words often come from someone who has given up.