The Secret to Life

Sorry it has been so long since my last blog. Much has happened. Included in my happenings is the discovery (or continuing discovery) of the secret to a happy well balanced life. In fact I hope this isn't a secret but in case it is here it is: God loved you first before you could have even done anything good or bad. In fact the following is true:

He loved you before you were lovable.
He chose you before you were acceptable.
He empowered you before you were responsible.
It has nothing to do with your performance, but His love always there, always offered, unconditionally.

Ephesians 1:11-12 "It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone."

This is the secret to life.

God of Second Chances? Maybe Yes, maybe not so much

There is a scene in “City Slickers” with Billy Crystal, where the three friends are discussing how hard life has been. As they talk about their buddy’s recent divorce they bring up the principle of the “do over”. In baseball sometimes things didn’t happen right in the game or a call was too close to agree upon. They would then declare a “do over” and replay the play. They felt that could be applied to life in general.

Second chances are something God often allows. Abraham blows it when he tries to hide behind his wife, Sara as his sister. David really blows it when he sleeps with his neighbors wife and then sends him to his death. Paul picks the wrong side in the religious struggles of his time and gets knocked off his horse.

I have experienced the largest “do over” in my marriage to Paula. Married to my first wife at the ripe old age of 20, I hadn’t a clue what I was doing. I didn’t even know enough about life and women to be even classified as ignorant. I hadn’t lived any real life yet. After much trauma and suffering, I found the perfect wife for me. God seemed to guide me to her and the proof has been in the pudding ever since.

So is it always God’s plan to have a “do over”? I believe it is, but it also very much depends what you do with it. God forgives every one of us for the dumb things we do, the selfish things we do, and even the good things we don’t do. That is available to us all whenever we turn to Him. But what we do with that forgiveness, that “do over” is as important as turning to it in the first place. If we see it as a chance to straighten out our lives, do the right things, “get it right”, finally follow the rules, our life might get better but we will have missed the point. We are made to connect with God, speak to Him, hear Him speak to us, follow Him; in essence walk with Him. That is the point. It isn’t about following the rules. It is about following our God. As C. S. Lewis, the great Christian writer once said, “A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other.”

It is not about following rules. If we follow the Living God we will obey the rules that are really important. We will then find the energy in our lives we really need for our “do overs” in life.

God tricked me!

There is no such thing as fair. I know this. I taught it to my kids. But God? Not fair? You better believe it! He tricked me (although maybe he had to). I felt the call to be a church planter about 8 years ago. My dream was to have this mega church with a big band, lots of people, and lots of resources. I heard stories of guys setting up church and having tons of people show up the first week. I even heard about this guy in Grand Rapids that had 2,000 people show up the first week. Even he thought it was a fluke until 3,000 people showed up the second week. My seminary made it sound so easy although they did tack on the obligatory "This is hard stuff." How hard could it be. You just follow the formulas they taught us and, voila! You have a church! Just follow the recipe on the box.

Then came doing the real thing. I was never more tired of people quoting me the same scripture, "When TWO or more are gathered in my name..." Then came the asparagus analogy. Apparently it takes a long time for asparagus to grow. All I knew was I was not experiencing the "drive-thru" success "everyone else" was experiencing. No mega church, no multiple ministries, no mega-bucks either.

What I got instead was a whole boatload of wonderful and "interesting" people. "Slightly irregular" has become our congregational description. I just finished listening to Eugene Peterson's new book, "The Pastor, My Memoirs". First I see that there is nothing new under the sun. Pastor Peterson ran into the same people we run into every day. They just had different names. Nothing new under the sun. Then the revelation that I had been tricked by God. Instead of a big church, we got people with big problems. They were hard working folks mostly, and well meaning. They grew up in the same culture I grew up in and look how I turned out! I found I didn't want to be a church planter, or a mega church pastor (some people called that a rancher (big spread analogy)). I want to be a shepherd. You know, a small intimate flock. Woolly and itchy but pretty lovable when they aren't butting you or falling off a cliff. But you gotta lov'em. They steal you heart. And I know they have stolen God's heart. Sometimes it is better to be tricked.

I think I’ve got it!

I’m slow. I hoped old age would help me learn quicker, catch on faster. But not so much. I was trained in a wonderful learning environment in the seminary where I studied. I have read volumes on various subjects such as theology, end times, post modern church, church planting and church growth. I read about how to have a “sticky church”, a cool church, an outside-the-box church. I came to my old hometown expecting the worse and my expectations were met. Few showed up for this “new kind of church”. Even fewer stayed. Slowly, I mean glacier speed, people started to stay. A couple of them got it. Most came clueless and stayed that way. I guess maybe I was and am the right pastor for the clueless, or as our t-shirts announce, the “slightly irregular folks”.

The pressure seemed to be to get more people and more money. You have “saved” more people if you have lots and lots of people in your church. And of course you need more money to “do the Lord’s work”. Why was I such a failure? My denomination hadn’t even recognized us as a real church after six years. I guess I can’t blame them. One week we have 75 people in church, the next 20, and we come closer to the latter most weeks. And don’t even get me started about the money. Then I realized what I was doing. As the author of Ecclesiastes says, “13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

I gave up. I called my overseer and said this is it. This is all we will ever need to be, a family, a church, a people of God albeit slightly irregular. I am a pastor, maybe an old pastor but that’s my call. My wife and I are the father and mother of this family. We hope someday to be the grandparents with others taking over, but until then we have one call. To love and serve the people God brings to us, whether they show up on Sunday or not, or give lots of money or not. There is no higher calling.

Who am I that God could use me?

In the movie, "The Nativity" Mary is confronted by an angel who tells her what God is doing in her life. Her response (not Biblical but very possible) was, "Who am I that my Lord would use me?" She said yes to God and it not only changed her life but ours as well. God chooses to work through His people. He could do it Himself but that would not be the same. He is calling us to be used by Him. It actually helps define who we are when we say yes to God. A.W. Tozer, a famous Christian author around the turn of the last century writes:
God Wants to Work Through You
Unbelief says:
Some other time, but not now;
some other place, but not here;
some other people, but not us.
Faith says:
Anything He did anywhere else He will do here;
anything He did any other time He is willing to do now;
anything He ever did for other people He is willing to do for us!
With our
feet on the ground,
and our head cool,
but with our heart ablaze with the love of God,
we walk out in this fullness of the Spirit, if we will yield and obey.
God wants to work through you!
The Counselor has come, and He doesn’t care about the limits of
locality,
geography,
time
or nationality.
The Body of Christ is bigger than all of these.
The question is:

Will you open your heart?

We have a very BIG God

As we approach various disagreements about the nature of God, His ways, His teachings, we often get stuck on issues that can divide. In the Letter to the Romans Chapter 14 Paul refers to “disputable matters” and warns that this can divide the church and hurt people, especially those who are weak, struggling or even still learning about their faith (maybe all of us?). He repeats this discussion at the end of 1 Corinthians Chapter 8. My contention is that our God is a very big God who can and does include many more of us than we might include ourselves. The Greek word for “disputable matters” is adiaphra, and has been a contention in various Christian faiths for centuries. God is not exactly a one-size-fits-all God but He is big enough to fit all. I am not saying all will be with Him, there is a free will choice, but I think He intends that all will be with Him who want to be. I will even go further than that, I believe that He can and does customize the Christian walk, the disciplines, that He calls each individual to, as best fits their needs, disposition, and background. I have been a Protestant, a Catholic, in multiple denominations including a son of an Orthodox mother. I have seen great things God has done in so many of their varied beliefs. I believe when we get in disagreements we often are thinking too small. One wants to do things one way and someone else another. God may very well want both even if they seem to us to be contrary. Again it depends at times, in my humble opinion, about what we need. God comes down to our level. Our God is an awesome God who wants us to come to Him and there is a facet, a nature of God that each and every one of us can connect with. That is the breadth of God’s love.

OK Let's get real!

I have been reading blogs concerning "authenticity" such as in worship, prayer or relationships. A concern seems to arise that we will try to hard to be authentic and just chase after this as the newest trend. Psalms are cited where they seem to begin with an unrealistic, "Oh praise the Lord for all things" approach to life that is far from authentic. This "Praise the Lord" phenomenon went through the Christian world in the early 70"s. I read the Psalms and see authenticity that is much deeper than this superficial kind of spirituality. I hear the Psalmist say, "God, smuck my neighbor because he has been bad to me. Pluck out his eyes, punish him, and may his children run away from home. But Lord I trust in you so your will be done in his life." Lamentations, shouting at God, is really being authentic and the Bible seems to encourage us to do this. God is a big boy and can take it. He wants us to be real with Him. That is the only way a relationship can grow. What do you think?

My last word on hell - for now

Yesterday, I preached on hell. It wasn’t a hell, fire, and brimstone sermon. I rarely get to that energy level and try to not throw stones. I was responding a Rob Bell’s new book seeming to question the current idea of hell. Also, I had a lady in our church come to me with a question. She said that a fellow employee was going around telling folks that if you don’t read your Bible you will go to hell. Now I would be impressed if someone knew who was in (God’s kingdom) and who is out but I am not impressed by these rule seekers. If I read correctly Jesus wasn’t very impressed either. He liked to shake up their world by flipping these kinds of comments back on them. You see I think Jesus doesn’t want anyone to go to hell (2 Peter 3:9). We are way too quick to condemn. As one seminary professor I know has stated, “If you put your lips on a stove you won’t go to hell but you will burn your lips off!” I think we often skip the common sense test when talking about this great subject. It would seem better to be talking about how to embrace and enjoy God’s love rather than our “brilliant” thoughts on some great eternal plan. Anyway that is the way I see it.

The Starting Line

In the Christian world much talk occurs about a giant leap, a decision, being “saved”, born again, receiving Christ, all of which is good. But for many this seems to be the end of their journey. Once saved, there is nothing else to do but go get others saved. My contention is that this isn’t the be-all and end-all of our journey, our conversation, but the starting line.

The call I see in the Bible is to strive to be more like Jesus. This is an internal process or conversion that takes a lifetime. The Apostle Paul talks about this in his Letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 4 where he says, “²²You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” The goal is to be “like God”. We have to make the initial choice, conversion, leap, or whatever you call it but then our lives are measured by how much we become like God. The change doesn’t happen all at once or we would probably explode. This is a messy process, but as long as we keep turning to Jesus our source, our model, and the one who lives within us, we can experience this new life. We need to, in Paul’s words, “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” He talks about running the good race, fighting the good fight, and we cannot stop turning to Him, seeking Him, allowing Him to transform us into what He intended us to be. This takes time, time spent with God in prayer, worship, connection. In these 40 days before Easter, take this as a time to find out what He is doing in you.

Freaketh not!

Recently I have been reading blogs like the one I posted a couple of days ago from Rob Bell seeming to question whether there is a hell or not. I think questioning is more than fine, it is mandatory. I don't want to see this new generation following the "zeitgest" or "spirit of the times" but questioning old beliefs is a way to test what you believe is true and whether you really do believe it. This is of course as long as you don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Much of what Christianity has become is fairly thin, polarized, and/or even politicized. The outsiders see through this lack of real substance quite easily.

Dr. Phil Zuckerman, a Sociology Professor at Pitzer College and a devote atheist wrote a column titled, "Why Evangelicals Hate Jesus." He challenges the fact that many Christians deny what Jesus taught or modeled. He states, "Jesus unambiguously preached mercy and forgiveness. These are supposed to be cardinal virtues of the Christian faith. And yet Evangelicals are the most supportive of the death penalty, draconian sentencing, punitive punishment over rehabilitation, and the governmental use of torture. Jesus exhorted humans to be loving, peaceful, and non-violent. And yet Evangelicals are the group of Americans most supportive of easy-access weaponry, little-to-no regulation of handgun and semi-automatic gun ownership, not to mention the violent military invasion of various countries around the world. Jesus was very clear that the pursuit of wealth was inimical to the Kingdom of God, that the rich are to be condemned, and that to be a follower of Him means to give one's money to the poor. And yet Evangelicals are the most supportive of corporate greed and capitalistic excess, and they are the most opposed to institutional help for the nation's poor -- especially poor children. They hate anything that smacks of "socialism," even though that is essentially what their Savior preached. They despise food stamp programs, subsidies for schools, hospitals, job training -- anything that might dare to help out those in need. Even though helping out those in need was exactly what Jesus urged humans to do. In short, Evangelicals are that segment of America which is the most pro-militaristic, pro-gun, and pro-corporate, while simultaneously claiming to be most ardent lovers of the Prince of Peace."

Now I am not saying he is right, but I do think he has hit on some points worth discussing. We can fall into our own form of zeitgest if we blindly follow one political party or another. Let us not also throw the baby out with the bath water. We can find ourselves backing ideas that have nothing to do with Christ's belief and everything to do with a sociological, economic or political belief. We need to use the test of love as we evaluate our decisions concerning our belief systems. Or do you disagree?

The Hindu Grandmother

Who then can be saved? That was the disciples' question when Jesus let them know that the "in-crowd" wasn't safe. Is there an in-crowd? This video, by Dave Schmelzer, a Vineyard pastor in Boston rattles some of the same cages. Are we trying to be more exclusive than God. I hope so. I believe He is far more inclusive than we can ask or dream of. After all Jesus says He is the one who judges the hearts of men and women, not just their actions. Some of us in the in-crowd may be like the boy who was given an award, a badge for humility but then they had to take it away because he wore it. We can let our pride, our egos get in the way of God and isn't that the very message He gave us. Set that stuff aside and love others. What do you think?

If you don't know what Dave is talking about with the bounded and centered set concepts see my earlier blog on January 27th.

Love wins!

It is impossible to write a critique on a book that hasn’t been published yet. Seeing the video clip by Rob Bell on this book you see a warm heart. Admirably he attacks the harshness, the judgmentalism, the elitism the church has fallen into. We all want to say what he says, however I can’t. It isn’t that I'm a coward. It is because it isn’t true, that is if he is saying all are going to be with God (my definition of heaven) and everyone avoids the darkness of hell (not being with God). Where one is not with the source of love and light he is in darkness whether he is still alive on this earth or not. Hell is the darkness of not being with God.

But Gandhi in hell? I am not the one to call that. If I was, he would get my vote for heaven, but I don’t think he needs my vote. He only needs God’s vote. My personal opinion, which is of no worth, is that he is closer to God than many “religious” people in Christianity.

“Love wins”. How very true that is. My question is, “What is love?” It may have a different definition to the child sold into the sex slave trade than the one going to Sunday school. There is injustice. There is evil in the world. There is extreme selfishness. How does love “win” in those areas? It does! However it will look different than the simplistic “everyone gets a pass” world of universalism. The sex slave trader - get a pass? God is the righter of wrongs. Love wins in the end, but so does justice. Mercy wins in the end, but so does truth. I am really glad I’m not God. What I know is that God, who is love, wants all of us to know Him and experience His love because love wins and then so do we!