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Suffering Will Harden or Humble You

I found out last night that one of my neighbors has cancer. He’s going through Chemo-therapy and it sounds like the doctors are hopeful, but your prayers for him are appreciated. I’d rather not share his name, but if you pray for Pastor Mike’s neighbor then I’m pretty sure God will know who you’re talking about 🙂

That conversation made me think about how suffering can either harden your heart or humble you. The great lie, especially for a man who’s still “in his prime,” is that we are in control. Suffering pulls the mask off our weakness so that our weakness is clearly visible to everyone, ourselves included.

What do you do when confronted with the reality of your weakness and lack-of-control? 

Do you shake your fist at God and say “How dare you!” Do you look through your tears and say “Why me?” I’m guessing it’s probably some combination of the two.

But in the midst of the hard questions that you may never have answered, are you able to say, “God, I don’t understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing this, but I trust you and I need you to be my strength?”

Ultimately, Christian suffering finds its hope and meaning through the cross of Jesus Christ. 

He who was innocent (Jesus) suffered for those who were guilty (you and me). We have hope because Jesus not only died, but conquered death.

If Jesus suffered, why do we think we won’t? Do we think a life of comfort is more appealing than a life spent following Christ?

The Christian trusts God’s control, not his own.

We don’t know all the answers. We know some… and we have partial answers to others. But we simply cannot explain why God does some of the things he does. What we do know is that he is good and we can trust him.

The humble heart does not cry out for God to follow our rules, as if God owes us something.

Lament, mourn, and cry out to God with your hard questions. God is not afraid of being challenged by you. He is not intimidated by your shaking fists. You are allowed to question him.

But remember your place. I recently read through the book of Job, where God finally responds to Job’s pleads for an explanation over his suffering (Job 40:7-14):

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:

7 “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.

8 “Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
11 Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at all who are proud and bring them low,
12 look at all who are proud and humble them,
crush the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.
14 Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.

Here is my prayer for my neighbor:

Heavenly Father,
     In the midst of my friend’s suffering, be his strength and hope. Make yourself known to him and his family. In this time where death is so near, use this season of weakness and uncertainty to give them eternal life through Jesus Christ. Heal and restore him to health. Guide and bless the doctors and nurses who are caring for him and give them great wisdom and skill as they do their life-sustaining, life-healing work.
Give my friend and his family humble hearts, ones that lean into you when they see their weakness. Give them courage and honesty to give voice to their doubts and their questions, and guide them to your Scriptures as the fountain of Truth. And open for me a door through which I may be of service.
AMEN

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Don’t Lose Your Time, Invest It

We all have limited time. And the thing is… no one knows how much time they really have! So how are you using your time?

Are you using it, or losing it? Are you investing it into something good and lasting, or are you spending your time on things that are passive (like consuming tv or social media)?

I don’t want to make this a sermon, so I’ll keep it short.

If we want to live theologically, we need to think theologically about how we use our time. Read more books, pray more, make joy-filled living a priority.

Spend less time complaining and more time writing “Thank You” notes. Make more phone calls, and send fewer emails and text messages.

How are you spending your time? Your time DOES reflect your priorities, whether you care to acknowledge that or not. Sure, you may have convictions about how you should spend your time and about what your priorities should be… but take a look at how you actually spend your time, and ask yourself if you’re pleased with the priorities in your actual life. 

If you don’t like what you see then make one change at a time. Pick one priority a month, and sustain the changes you make until you’re actual life matches what you think you “should” be doing.

The time is short. Invest your time to make much of Christ.

Only one life,
T’will soon be past.
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
C.T. Studd

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What’s Your “Thing?”

A brilliant and insightful question, right?! But seriously consider this for a moment with me: What’s your “thing?”

This is something I’ve been chewing on over the last few weeks since I finished reading Walter Isaacson’s biography on Steve Jobs. It’s a fascinating (long!) book, and I’m really glad I read it. There’s a ton about Jobs that we should NOT emulate, but it’s difficult to not be inspired by his focus and determination. As a leader, I would hate to follow him because of how he treated people; but as an innovator there is much for me to learn.

The big idea I walked away with is this: There’s only so much you can do, and do well. It’s better to do one or two things really really well than to do many things mediocre. I don’t want to live in mediocrity. I want to live well, I want to make an impact in the world for Christ, and I hope you do too.

So this begs the question… what’s your “thing?” What is it that you are more passionate about? When you look at your life, your family, your work or your ministry – what is it that ties everything together? Try to be more specific/narrow than saying “Jesus.” The Christian’s faith in Christ should be central for every Christian… I’m encouraging you to consider what is your distinctive passion?

Jobs’ passion was getting simple computing into the hands of the common consumer. For me, I’m passionate about showing the beauty of the Church to a world who looks down on organized religion. Job’s passion took various forms throughout his life, and I’m sure mine will too; but it’s been a good exercise to look back throughout my life and discover this common thread running and guiding me to where I am today. And I’m excited to see how that “Thing” will continue to guide and inspire me in the coming years and decades (God-willing).

So… What’s your “Thing?” If you’re willing to share or want to process this together, I’d love to hear and discuss it together in the comments below.

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Understanding the Lord’s Prayer

Many people can recite the Lord’s Prayer without being able to explain what it means or answer basic questions about it.  I’d like to break it down very simply to help us all better understand what Jesus was teaching about prayer.

It’s a Pattern, Not a Chant. Jesus said, “This, then is HOW (not what) you should pray…”  Jesus gave it as a pattern for his followers to copy.  He did not intend for them to recite it as if they were chanting a magical incantation that would force God to do what they want him to do.  The different parts of the Lord’s Prayer are meant to teach us something about God, prayer, and about our need.

“Our Father in Heaven.” First, we should start our prayers by recognizing that we are praying to God Almighty who is in Heaven.  But at the same time, we approach him as a child approaches his loving father.  God is “in Heaven,” but He is our loving Heavenly Father.  Just as a respectful child approaches his father with humility and love, we also should approach praying to our Heavenly Father with humility and love rather than praying as if God is a “Cosmic Vending-Machine” who is there to give us whatever we ask for.  We should start our prayers by humbly recognizing who we are and who God is.

“Hallowed be your name.” We barely ever hear the word “hallowed” today, and most of us couldn’t give a good dictionary definition for it… and yet many recite it in the Lord’s Prayer without giving much thought to what we’re saying in this line.  “Hallowed” literally means “to make holy” or “to demonstrate as holy.”  So when we say “hallowed by your name,” what we are praying is, “show us how holy and perfect and ‘different from us’ you are!”  This line really is an extension of the opening acknowledgement that God is our Father in Heaven: First we recognize that God loves us and listens to us (“Our father in heaven”) and then we move on to recognize his holiness (“hallowed be your name).  God is not our buddy whom we should carelessly address, but neither is He is distant and uncaring God whom we should be terrified to pray to.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God is the King.  When we say that God is “Sovereign,” what we are declaring is that God really is in charge of everything.  Even some atheists pray when their loved ones are in a terrible life-threatening accident.  That’s because there’s just ‘something’ inside of us that tells us God is in control, and Scripture time and again affirms that idea.  The word “will” means the same as “desire,” so by praying for God’s will to be done we are praying for all that God desires to be done.  If we pray but refuse to submit to God’s authority (“your will be done…”), then we are only deceiving ourselves and we’re not really praying the way Jesus taught his followers to pray.  As Jesus’ people pray and obey God’s will for them, his kingdom is made increasingly evident to the unbelieving world around them.

“Give us today our daily bread.” God provides.  He does not give us everything we ask for, but He gives us everything we need.  This doesn’t mean that people who are dying of starvation aren’t praying enough (but it does mean that others aren’t praying “your will be done” enough!).  God provides everything we truly need. This line points back to when God was leading Israel out of Egypt and provided the Manna from heaven each morning for them to eat.  God did not give them enough to last any more than a day so that they would have to continue relying on Him to provide.  Likewise, we are are following Jesus each day can trust that He will provide everything I need for today; and tomorrow he will provide for everything I need tomorrow.  God cares for his children and takes care of them.

“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” God is the only one who can forgive sin, I think most people agree about that.  In Matthew 6:12 the Lord’s Prayer says “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” while Luke 2:4 says “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.”  Scholars agree that the reason these lines are different is because Jesus probably taught them this prayer in Aramaic (which was the commonly spoken language of the day), so when they wrote the prayer in Greek they used different words to communicate what Jesus said.  This line in the prayer is significant, because we we pray we confess our sins to God and admit our need to be forgiven.  You cannot receive forgiveness if you don’t admit that you need it!

“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Confessing sin to God in prayer is really important, but so is repenting from your sin.  I like to think about “Repentance” as doing an “About-Face” – imagine you’re walking one way, then you stop, turn around, and start walking in the opposite direction that you were walking in before – that’s what repentance is like.  When we confess our sin to God we are admitting our need to be forgiven and that we have dishonored God.  Confession is great, but if we do not repent of our sin then we are doomed to repeat it.  Praying this part of the Lord’s Prayer might sound like this: “God, I know that I have sinned by gossiping about my coworker.  This does not honor you and isn’t what you want from me.  I want to speak well of people and not be known as a gossip or slanderer.  When I am tempted to gossip, remind me of your desire for me to to speak well of people and make me a blessing rather than a discouragement.”  It’s important for us to realize that we cannot escape temptation on our own, no matter how “good” we are or how much self-control we have.  We are fully dependent upon the Holy Spirit who lives in Christians to give us eyes that see temptation coming and feet to escape it.

“For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.” Technically, this isn’t in the Lord’s Prayer in Scripture and therefore some traditions don’t say this when they recite the Lord’s Prayer.  This simply is a way of closing out the prayer while again declaring God’s holiness and sovereignty.  We pray for God’s kingdom and power and glory to be lifted up and made more beautiful in the eyes of all people.  “Amen” is an expression that means “So be it” or “Make it so.”  By closing our prayers with “Amen,” we are declaring that we truly believe that God has heard everything we have said and that He will do it.

I hope this has been a helpful look into the Lord’s Prayer.  Please feel free to ask any questions as a comment below and I’ll do my best to reply with an answer.  Martin Luther’s “Small Catechism” has a section on the Lord’s Prayer which is really good, I highly recommend it for those of you who might be looking to read a bit more.

[note: I wrote this post and published it on my youth ministry’s blog, crosswalking.net in order to help parents better explain the Lord’s Prayer to their children.] 

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There’s No Such Thing as a Small Decision

Ok, so maybe that’s overstating it a bit… but the small decisions count. Honestly, I do think the small decisions we make each day count more than the big decisions we might make once a few times throughout our lives. Let me explain.

If I’m making good, wise, and courageously faithful small decisions then what kind of bid decisions do you think I’ll make?

On the other hand, if I’m blowing off small decisions as insignificant then I will be far more likely to be in a bad position to make wise choices about big decisions.

I do think it’s that simple.

Simple… yes. Easy… well, no.

Daily decisions count. That stack up on top of each other and set patterns like a small stream cutting its way through the desert. With time and repetition, decisions become habits, and habits shape and reshape our character.

All this being said: If you find your character lacking, and if you’ve been making consistently poor decisions, there is hope. There is hope through Christ, that our history doesn’t determine our future. There is hope through Christ, that today’s sin has already been atoned for. There is hope through Christ, that tomorrow’s temptation can be overcome through faithfully fighting sin with some close, trusted friends who are pursuing Christ with us. No matter how many bad decisions you’ve made, there is always hope to make the best decision possible… and that decision to repent of your sin and believe on Jesus Christ will impact your future decisions.

May the decisions we make today and every day (yes, even the “little decisions”) be good decisions, because every thing matters.

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Love Your Children Well

A friend of mine lost his three year old son this week. He went to sleep and simply never woke up. It is a tragedy beyond my understanding, and one I pray that I would never fully comprehend. As I pray for God’s comfort and peace and hope to surround my friend and his family, it’s only natural to feel a new layer of love for my children grow. 

I want my son and daughter not only to know that I love them. I want them to feel loved. While we should not live by our “feelings,” God gave them to us, and feelings are not inherently bad or shallow or trite. 

This is something I struggle with, because I’m not much of a “feeler.” Most people who know me know I’m not a particularly emotional person and that I tend to be fairly matter-of-fact. But with my family, it is one of my greatest prayers that they would not simply know that I love them… I pray that they would feel how much I love them. 

The greatest thing a parent can do for his/her children is to love them well.  
If my kids are well-behaved but don’t feel loved by me, then I have failed them. If my kids are ridiculously smart but they believe my love for them is conditional, depending on how well they are “performing,” then I have failed them. I could almost picture the Apostle Paul including this type of scenario into 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

In the midst of discipline, does love reign?
As a Christian dad I do not have the “luxury” of neglecting to discipline my kids because it’s easier (in the short-term). Loving your kids doesn’t mean there is no “law” or that rules are absent. But it does mean that love is freely given despite my kids’ worthiness or unworthiness. Instead, I love my children unconditionally because I know I am loved by my Heavenly Father. Personally, I think I learn more about love when I’m in the throes of discipline than when I’m laughing with my kids – because that’s when I need to remember how uniquely God loves me. 

Questions I’ve been wrestling with over the past few days:

  • Do I discipline out of love and desire to see my children desire faithfulness to God, or out of a heavy-handed authority that demands law-abiding, rule-keeping children?
  • What if God treated me the way I sometimes treat my children? 
    That thought should terrify me…
  • What if I loved my children the way God loves me? 
    That thought should bring joy to my children… 

 

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When Faith is Necessary

Faith isn’t necessary when you live in comfort, only doing things you can do “without” God. When you’re securely in your sweet-spot, you can live as if God doesn’t matter.

Yes, God is still necessary because He is the sustainer of life and yada, yada, yada. But, outside of common-grace, “Faith” is not necessary when God isn’t needed.

This is why Atheists and Christians can live so similarly most of the time. Because most Christians live so comfortably in their own bubble that faith in Christ is only saved for death or for seasons of suffering and difficulty, but not for daily life.

I don’t want to live like that. I want to live by faith, because I know that God is real, that he loves me, that the Gospel is true and that faith has meaning both for eternity and today. Will you join me in walking by faith?

We walk by faith, not by sight.
2 Corithians 5:7

I’m not thinking about the “BIG” things in life… I’m thinking about the little things throughout the day/week.

  • This could lead us to be more generous when generosity doesn’t make sense, because God doesn’t hold back in providing for us.
  • Or we could attempt simple things that are difficult for us (even if they’re easy for others!), because we are trusting God to give us the strength we need to accomplish them.
  • Speaking up in that conversation because you’re trusting God to give you the right words and the right (humble and gracious) way to say them.
  • Taking the initiative in restoring a strained relationship, because you’re thankful God took the initiative to restore your relationship with Him.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below: What are some other ways that walking by faith can make a real difference in how you/we live.

Note: I haven’t read “The Christian Atheist” by Craig Groeschel yet, but it looks good… if you’ve read it, please let me know what you thought. Many of these ideas were spurred years ago when I first studied Bonhoeffer’s “Letters and Papers from Prison” where he writes about the “World Come of Age.” 

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Questions to Ask on Halloween

pumpkinToday is Halloween. I’m not interested in debating how Christians should think about Halloween’s origins and how it is observed today.

Here’s the great value I see to Halloween: your neighbors!

Do you know your neighbors? If yes, how well do you know them? How often do you interact? Do you pray for them and look for opportunities to point them to Jesus? If so, here are a few questions to ask:

  • How can I welcome my neighbors in a way that would reflect Christ’s gracious and welcoming heart?
  • What does it say to my neighbors when they hear Christians bashing Halloween as “the devil’s day” and then they see me (they know I’m a Christian) walking with my family or happily passing out candy to families at the door?
  • If Jesus came to seek and save the lost, why would I turn down an opportunity to interact with my neighbors?
  • Why don’t I pray for my neighbors more often?

Take a long-term approach towards your neighbors.  Sure, many of those who come may not be able to distinguish your house from any non-Christian house… but your neighbors know, and hopefully you’re cultivating Gospel-bearing relationships with them. Regardless of whether or not you choose to trick-or-treat, you have the strong potential to show hospitality to your neighbors and to strangers tonight.

Your neighbors may not give your hospitality tons of weight tonight, but they will take note if you DON’T show hospitality.

Please note: I am not encourage you to only show hospitality in order to evangelize. We are not salesmen, we are men and women who love God. Because we love God we must also love our neighbors.  And when we love our neighbors well, we will reflect the love of God and He will provide opportunities for us to share the Gospel and invite them to find life and hope in Christ. 

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