On the eve of hope...

Today we have set aside to observe the birthday of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Many business and establishments are closed. There will be rallies, speeches and marches...all commemorating the man who's face is synonymous with the civil rights movement. There is no irony lost in the fact that tomorrow, in many ways Dr. King's dream will finally be realized when Barack Hussien Obama takes the oath of office as the President of the United States of America. Some people are very happy, having lived during the oppression of people of color by others. Some people are not, believing that President-elect Obama cannot fulfill his campaign promises. However, I believe that we all have expectations of our future president that are far too lofty.
I voted for Barack Obama, believing that his plan to lead this country is better than that of Senator McCain. I have a great deal of respect for John McCain, as he is a fellow veteran and has served his country with the utmost honor. I just don't believe that he is suited to lead this country during the present turmoil that we live in...but, what we, as a nation, expect Obama to do during his presidency is almost insurmountable. To understand what I am saying I suppose I should point out what the president's duty is...
In a nutshell, the president is the chief policy maker. He is responsible for the economic welfare of this country. He is also the Commander-In-Chief of our nations' Armed Forces...his is the responsibilty of keeping or nation militarily strong and safe. The country's morale ebbs and flows with the President's ability or perceived ability to govern the nation. That is what we should expect Barack Obama to do...govern our nation in such a way that we are financially stable and safe at home, home being the USA. But we expect so much more...
I have listened intently to a myriad of conversations from all sorts of people since the election...well, even during the marathon campaign, and what many believe Obama will do is...well, too much. Some believe that, because of Obama's election victory, racism will cease to exist in this country. Others feel that we will suddenly have a drastic change in our economy, an upswing that will have us all realizing the proverbial "American Dream" once again. There are some that believe just the opposite. Some believe that he will be wildly successful, others hope he will be a dismal failure. There are some that believe that he is God sent...now, I can understand all of the different feelings and beliefs until we get to that one..Barack Obama...God sent? Okay...I mention this because I overheard a conversation about the name Barack being in the bible...(actually, it's spelled Barak but for someone who is reaching it is all the same...)Barak (the biblical one) was sent by Deborah, the fourth and only female judge of Israel in the old testament, to go to battle with Sisera, the commander of the Hazor army. Events led to Sisera's death at the hand of Jael (a tent peg through the temple...ewww...). And, that is all that is mentioned of Barak. I pointed out that the biblical story is actually about Deborah and her rule as judge but was told, "Well, you have to read between the lines." So, rather than argue with somebody who's mind has been made up, I simply smiled and let it be...
So, what is my point to this post? Will, it is just this...Barack Hussien Obama is a man and that is it. He is God created, but as for him being God sent to right all of this countries social wrongs...I don't think so. He will, I hope, be a good president and govern in a way that brings back national pride. His presidency will not however, bring about the end of racism, hatred, poverty, violence and all other injustices that we face on a daily basis, only individuals can do that. His presidency may be the beginning to conversations and thoughts...but, will this reach everyone? Who knows...? In the end, Mr. Obama is a man that must one day answer to THE MAN who is in the person of Jesus Christ. So, while I believe that our hope for tomorrow is brighter, I pray that we don't place our hope in one man but in a trilogy...the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit...

Right Now!

Time...it's the one thing that is invaluable and the one thing, that once used, can never be renewed. We talk so much about time...how to manage it, how to not waste it, how to save it. And yet, with all of that talk we never truly come to understand the importance of time. In terms of time we tend to think more about time used (the past) and time desired (the future)...but, the time that we are least concerned with that has the most impact on our lives is time possessed (the now).
This morning I read a book of scripture that I don't normally read. In fact, I was reading Psalms and Romans when God laid it upon my heart to read Ecclesiastes. I was amazed at the harmony I was faced with reading what King Solomon wrote and, how over the past couple of weeks we, as a church, have been talking about seizing the now to shape our future. Then, too is the fact that we begin a new sermon series today called, "30 days to live". So, I was blown away by God,(as is often the case), and how smoothly He presented this thought to me...Ecclesiastes is almost entirely about time. More exactly, it is about how we waste so much time worrying about things that don't matter...riches, fame, the past, the future. However, God is trying to tell us that all of those things don't matter...what matters is the now. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 25-34; Jesus tells us not to worry about anything, especially tomorrow, but instead desire those things of God's kingdom...in the book of Philippians 4:11 Paul talks about how he learned to be content regardless of what condition he found his life to be in. God wants to be clear to us...the time frame that we need to be most concerned with is the now.
We are all guilty of glossing over the now...oh, stop shaking your head in disagreement...you're guilty of it too. Think for a moment about how many times you have been faced with someone in need and told yourself, "I'll help them out later...when I have more time"...how many times have you had somebody need to simply talk to you about something on their heart and you've said, "Later on I can listen...let me clear my schedule"? The fact that we can't escape is that God places people in our lives NOW, and he wants us to interact with those people NOW. Jesus, in all of His dealings with others NEVER once told someone, "You know what? I can heal you but this is really a bad time...come back later!" He dealt with them right then and there...He helped them right where they stood. He did it to illustrate to us the importance of the now and how, if we want to shape our tomorrow, we have to live in the now...let tomorrow work itself out.
So I ask you...where is your mind set right now? Are you spinning your wheels thinking about what could have been yesterday or what might be tomorrow? Or are you enjoying the now? As for me, I have wasted too much of God's precious time living in the past and gazing at the future. I have passed up too many opportunities to get closer to Jesus by helping someone that He has placed in my life right now. I am decided to go, RIGHT NOW, and live for now....right now...if you wanna come too then let's go....right now...

Who do we think we are?

I had the opportunity to visit and browse around a couple of Christian bookstores today. While I was passing the time window shopping, I thought to myself how I would like to buy a bumper sticker or some little knick-knack with a faith based message/theme. I even thought about how cool it would be to purchase a number of, oh, I dunno...bookmarks or something with a certain phrase or scripture; and give them out to people in the Life Group that I am in...we could all have the same item and kinda like the special decoder ring we needed to be in that secret club as kids; we would have something that set us apart yet linked us together. Then a thought struck me...a bumper sticker or bookmark doesn't make one a Christ follower. In fact, all of the trinkets and baubles in the world; singularly or collectively, can not truly illustrate who we are. That thought led to my asking myself, "Well, who do we think we are?"
See, in our society, well, in most societies, we use symbolism to express to those around us a little bit of our personality and character. It may be a phrase on a hat, a picture on a t-shirt, a certain piece of jewelery...whatever...but, all of these symbols are meant to give complete strangers and casual aquaintences a peek behind our personal curtain at who we believe ourselves to be. However, we have to remember who we really are...according to God.
God's word says we are bad, flawed, damaged, (Romans 3:10, 3:23). And because of our character flaws we can never aspire to greatness, (Romans 5:12)...except...
Except the fact that God loves us (John 3:16, Romans 5:8) with a love so deep and vast that we can not comprehend it. He gave His ONLY son; an action that very few, if any, of us could do; unblemished and holy, to die so that we can in fact rise to heights that we do not deserve (Romans 8:32). It is due to the shed blood of Jesus that the flawed is made flawless, the damaged is repaired, the bad is made good.
So, the next time you and I have the desire to put on and/or display some type of symbol showing everybody else out there who we are, remember we are already wearing the most precious of all symbols...the blood of the Lamb...let all who look upon us see Christ in our actions...that's all we really need to show who we are...

Hey! Ya' want fries with that?

I meet every Wednesday night with a great bunch of people...my Life Group. If you are in my Life Group and happen to be reading this...well....YOU ROCK! Anyway, tonight a young woman in our Life Group (she knows who she is...)made a very interesting observation....it is not an earth shattering observation but, it is something that we lose sight of often....we are a "fast food" society. By that she meant that we; you, me....virtually everybody, we want everything RIGHT NOW! Instant gratification, baby! Give me my stuff...the quicker the better! You know what? She is right. I mean look at our nation....every day we are trying to get what we want quicker. Efficiency has been replaced by speed. Manners have been replaced by "Whaddya have?". But, what ramifications does this "gimme mine, now!" attitude have on our spiritual lives? God certainly can perform 'right now' kinds of miracles...Jesus did it often....but, His disciples were with him for around 3 years before he revealed to them His true purpose in coming into the world....3 YEARS!! So what am I saying? Well...I'm simply saying that some things take time. Sometimes we have the same fast food attitude with our spiritual lives and it just doesn't work. God is constantly shaping us and forming us into His image. But, rather than trusting Him and being patient...we want to be Christ-like without the purification. We just refuse to understand, (well, maybe we do understand but refuse to accept) that shaping and forming us into the image of Christ is not an overnight thing. The potter doesn't sit at the wheel and crank out vases and urns in quick fashion....he takes his time to mold, shape and form the clay to be EXACTLY what he envisions it to be. Likewise, the blacksmith (are there any blacksmith's still hanging around?) doesn't grab a piece of steel and whack it with a hammer once or twice and forge a strong, long lasting sword. It takes much shaping, hammering, and sweating before the smithy is satisfied. So what makes us think that the Creator of the heavens and the earth would just blink His eyes and 'Bam!' we would be everything He meant for us to be? He did that once...does the name Adam ring any bells?....and look what happened there. The bottom line is this....we all have to stop this mad dash toward salvation. He gave us this wonderful gift...it is free for our asking...our check already paid. Stop treating Jesus like He is a cashier at our local burger joint and start believing that He is in control and bringing us all to a point where He wants us to be....Philippians 1:6 says, "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns". We gotta wait, let our sculptor, God, do His thing...we are His masterpieces....but, we have to slow down...we have to be willing to forgo the urge to rush God...we have to wait and let the Potter mold His clay...besides...the long term rewards are much too great to rush and...too many fries are bad for you...

What's in it for me?

How many times have you asked yourself that question? What's in it for me? How can I get mine? Is this gonna benefit me or not? I have to admit that I am guilty of thinking these questions myself. It wasn't until recently that God opened my eyes to how wanting to ensure success for yourself was different from simply being selfish. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 reads, "For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. he alone examines the motives of our hearts". I had to stop and think about that for a minute...then repent for my past actions. It is not that I have ever been a "credit seeker", someone that is always doing things for a reward from someone else...I have never really been a quid pro quo kinda guy....but, I have to admit that there have been times in the past that my motives for doing something were self serving. What I didn't stop to think about is that even though the world may not see my true reasons for doing something...God saw and knew my motives. How humbling to have to go to God and ask forgiveness....humbling because outwardly some of the things I did for others seemed like an act of kindness...but, in reality, it was merely a selfish act on my part...just trying to get something in return. I am so thankful that God has given me the right perspective. I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit has shown me that as long as my motive is to please God then no matter what I do it will help and improve someone else's life. I am so blessed to know that God loves me enough to correct me when I am wrong...makes me feel like exactly what I am...His son.

God is not gray!

I was doing my daily reading today (1 Thess. 5) and something occured to me. I was struck by verses 12-22 and how many absolute words were used; words like, "always, never, all, do not, etc...". It started me to thinking that God ALWAYS uses absolutes, especially when He wants us to do something or be something that is according to His will. God always gives us very clear directions. Where we often mess up is when we take the very black and white instructions that God gives us and smear the lines to make them gray, especially when God calls for us to step out of our comfort zones and do something that we would otherwise avoid if left to our own devices. But, you see, that is the thing...God isn't gray. God is technicolor. He is the sunrise and sunset in all its splendor. He is all the beauty of a spring day and a baby's smile...but, He is not gray. I have not yet read anywhere, in any bible of any translation, where God requires us to do something that is according to His will and adds a, "...if you feel like it" or "if you want to" to the request. WE blur the lines so that we can avoid doing something that might make us feel uncomfortable at first or so that we can shy away from beginning a difficult task or so we can fulfill our own lusts and desires. We blur the lines and then justify our actions by making statements like, "Well, if God didn't intend for me to do this then He would stop me...", (all I can say is that if you ever find yourself making a statement like that it is a good chance that you have smeared the black and white already).
Well, if you know me then you know that I have a phrase that I am rather fond of..."When it's God, there is no doubt". God calls us to be things here on this earth...salt and light...so that He may be glorified. He doesn't tell us to do this if we feel like it or if we get a chance...no...He simply says, "...Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone" and "Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances", (1 Thess. 5:14, 16-18) and these are all absolutes.
So the next time you and I are faced with absolutes from God we have to be mindful of His absolute character. Christ died absolutely for us and it is through His absolute sacrifice that we are absolutely forgiven. And that is definitely not gray.